Rush Rush Rush
by fadedmonsters
Summary: "You want a love that consumes you. You want passion, and adventure, and even a little danger." Mature content. Matt/OC for now, eventual Klaus/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Tyler Lockwood's dad had a fraternal twin sister named Rebecca. She died battling breast cancer leaving her teenage daughter with her father who then decides maybe it's best for her to be with her mother's side of the family for a while. What a bad decision that turned out to be…

_*I'm aware the quote I have for the story are Damon's lines, but they fit perfectly with what I have in mind :)_

Starts off and continues throughout season 3 with my OC :) Enjoy!

**Chapter 1 – The Birthday**

Taking in a deep breath, Madeline opened up her new closet and winced, knowing fully well she'd have to start unpacking soon enough. She had been in Mystic Falls for a few weeks now and she had no motivation whatsoever to tidying up. Her Aunt Carol was having fits and she knew it was about time she made herself feel like she was part of the family again. She was welcomed with open arms; it was the least she could do.

Taking out all of her clothes from their boxes, she separated jeans, dresses, shirts to go out and her shoes and put them all in the closet. She finished off by putting pajamas and casual clothes in her drawers. It had taken her at least an hour before she heard a knock at the door-Tyler came through.

"Hey Mads, wanna come grab some lunch with me and Caroline at the Grill?"

Madeline smiled at her cousin, "Sure, why not?"

Tyler smiled and stepped in the room seeing her surrounded by a pile of heels.

"I see you've just made yourself comfortable."

"Yeah, I figured it was about time, and school is starting soon. Your mom has been on my ass about this since I got here so I just figured now or never you know?" she said with a shrug.

Extending her arms she wiggled her fingers at him and he rolled his eyes, leaning forward and grabbing onto her hands tightly to pull her up with ease.

"I'm gonna get dressed, I'll meet you downstairs."

As soon as Tyler left, she picked out an outfit to spend the rest of the day in. She looked at herself in the mirror nodding in approval. She had put on some green shorts and a white top. The shorts hugged her bottom curves in the right places and her dark hair was curled naturally down her back. Her hazel eyes were glassy looking like they always were due to her allergies so she opted out wearing eyeliner for the day. She headed downstairs and the pair was off into town in time.

Madeline really did like Mystic falls; to an outsider, it was a peaceful little place with a lot of history. But not all is what it seems. There were vampires crawling around, werewolves, and witches…

What else was out there?

Her mother's side-the Lockwood's came from a long line of werewolves. It was in their blood, and it was passed down to every male of the family. They were one of the founding families of the town and there was a lot of back-story to everyone living here today.

Passing street-by-street, she tried to keep her mind off the supernatural, even if only for a while.

"So… it's Elena's birthday right? We're going?" she asked.

"Yeah we're going. Caroline would have our heads on a stick if we didn't go."

At the mention of Caroline, Maddie smiled. Caroline and her didn't start off as good friend when they were younger. Maddie never liked how bossy the little blonde was. Always wanting to be group leader, the one who pushed the lunch cart, the one who lead the line to the library; it always annoyed Maddie but she truly had nothing against the girl. Caroline was actually the only one she saw when she came back to town a few months prior for the burial of her uncle and when her mom passed away.

Madeline laughed, "So what's the deal between you two?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well… since I've been here, I've noticed you two have been spending quite some time together."

Tyler scoffed, "Well… my cousin hasn't been wanting to spend any time with me since she got here, what else am I supposed to do?"

"Not be an ass to me honey, I am THE cousin so you better watch yourself." She said.

The two continued back and forth with their playful banter until they reached the heart of the town. Tyler found a parking close to The Grill and the two got out to walk across the street where they had seen Caroline.

Caroline, Madeline had learned was a vampire… who was turned by Damon Salvatore; Stefan Salvatore's brother who was dating Elena and they were also vampires. She had also quickly learned that vampires and werewolves were mortal enemies. She was confused how Tyler and Caroline hadn't killed each other yet because of this reason.

"Hi!" Caroline said with a bright smile.

"Hey!" Tyler and Madeline said in unison.

"Oh my God, Maddie those shorts are super cute!" Caroline said.

"Thanks." Madeline said with a small laugh.

"Okay, let me drop these off in your car, Maddie do you mind going to get a table?" the blonde asked and Madeline nodded with a shrug.

"Sure, why not?"

Madeline crossed the street and headed into the Mystic Grill. She went up to the front counter and looked around for an employee. She saw a familiar blonde writing something down on a paper pad and she smiled.

"Psst... hey you!"

Matt, who was busying himself with product orders looked up and his eyes widened.

Even though she didn't fully look like how he remembered... having seen her only years ago when they were kids, he could never forget those hazel eyes. He could hardly believe who he was just looking at. Almost immediately, he put his pen down and walked around the counter to give her a hug.

"I heard you were back, I haven't seen you around though. Tyler's been keeping you holed up or something?" he asked with a grin, squeezing the girl once more before stepping back.

Madeline laughed and shook her head, "I've become a recluse since I got here to be honest."

When she was younger and still living in Mystic Falls, her and Matt had been really good friends. They were together from first through fourth grade. They had been something like elementary school love birds at the time. Tyler would always get mad that Matt would try and take her away from him so they weren't good friends at the beginning when they were younger. She smiled at the memories and looked up at the tall boy as he motioned for her to follow him to the bar.

"You've definitely grown since the last time I saw you." She said with a wink.

Matt laughed, "I would say the same about you but I'm afraid Tyler's creeping around the corner somewhere ready to beat me down."

Rolling her eyes, she leaned on the counter, "Speaking of, I'm here for lunch. Table for three outside."

"Cool, I'm waiting out there so I'll be your server." He said.

"Awesome. It's going to be me, Ty and Caroline."

At the mention of Caroline, he instantly stood upright and sighed.

"On second thought… I'll be right back…" he said and turned on his heel.

Madeline raised an eyebrow and shrugged turning to walk outside.

* * *

After an awkward lunch (awkward on Madeline's part) her, Tyler and Caroline headed over to the Salvatore boarding house where they would be having Elena's birthday party. Caroline had gone crazy buying anything and everything for the night.

"_You only turn 18 once, she deserves some fun tonight, we all do…_" Caroline had said earlier.

When they got there she immediately went to give Elena a hug who returned it generously.

"Geez Elena, you're so tall!" Madeline laughed.

"Please, not that tall." she said, waving the compliment off.

"I don't think I can forget how I could never reach the monkey bars on my own, not even jumping up and you'd always help me." Madeline said shaking her head.

"Alright, we have time to stroll down memory lane later... we still have a bunch of things to do, let's get to it!" Caroline pushed, walking around them with a box of supplies for the night.

Madeline busied herself putting balloons around the house. As she wandered, she realized she had yet to officially meet the Salvatore brothers although she had heard a little bit about Damon; him being the one who killed her uncle and all. She hadn't really wanted to come back and face everyone during that time so she hid at her aunt's house. It was around that time though that her mother had become terribly sick from cancer and was hanging onto her final days.

Elena passed her and she quickly tapped her on the shoulder, "Hey, which one of these rooms is the bathroom?"

Elena pointed to a door at the end of the hall, "Just use Damon's right in there." she smiled.

Madeline nodded and smiled saying thanks before turning. She walked to the end of the hall and entered Damon's room. It was nothing out of the ordinary. Figuring she could use this time to snoop around, she did. There were a bunch of old books laying around, random clothes on the floor in front of what looked to be like an armoire and she saw at the far end of the room the door which led to the bathroom. Turning back, she looked around the dresser and her eyes widened.

There was a polaroid picture attached to the mirror of a guy, who she assumed was Damon, dressed in all black and next to him stood who she recognized to be the very famous members of the rock band AC/DC.

_Donington, 17 August, 1991_ it read on the front of the polaroid.

"Lucky bastard vampire." Madeline muttered.

A vibration in her back pocket brought her out of her thoughts and she smiled reading the caller ID.

"Hey dad." She said, quickly stepping out of the room.

"Hey baby, I just called to see how you were doing…"

Her father's voice instantly brought a smile to her face no matter what the situation was.

"I'm doing good… I'm helping Ty and his friends set up for a party tonight. How are you?"

"I'm good baby, and that sounds like fun… you be careful alright? I don't want to have to be worrying about you all the time." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"Are you kidding me? You've met aunt Carol right? You have nothing to worry about. I'm fine."

"Just making sure, it's the least I can do for now. I'm in London by the way! It's just about midnight here so I'll be turning in soon."

"You are?! Without me, how could you?" she said and laughed, "What are you shooting this time?" she asked.

Madeline's dad was a magazine photographer and his job required a lot of traveling on his part.

"Just a group of women for a winter line coming out soon. Nothing too out of the ordinary…"

"Maddie, you have more balloons to collect!"

Madeline rolled her eyes hearing Caroline call her.

"Hey dad, I gotta go. Caroline is in need of my assistance with some balloons. I'll talk to you soon okay?" she said.

"Alright honey, be good please. I'll call you soon. I love you!"

"I love you too, night!"

Turning on her heel, she walked down the stairs and to the kitchen area where the other three were unpacking things and she could hear Caroline scolding her cousin.

"Tyler!" she yelled.

Madeline raised an eyebrow at what she had just walked in to.

Elena excused herself to take a call, Caroline immediately turned to keep on scolding her cousin. Madeline just chuckled at that and continued to tie up balloons around the room. She could just barely hear what they were talking about and she just about gagged. She didn't want to know about Tyler's sex drive.

"Too much information." She said passing by Caroline.

"Well… I hope you get lucky tonight." The blonde said to Tyler.

Madeline fake gagged into a potato chip bag and Caroline snatched it away just as she laughed.

"That was smooth Care." She said.

"Hmm." the blonde huffed and turned.

_Those two were just something else._

* * *

Later that night, after showering and getting ready for the party, Tyler and Madeline had made their way back to the Salvatore house. There were already so many people there. Madeline couldn't help but think Caroline had really outdone herself. She escaped Tyler's grasp as soon as he mentioned he would be looking for his date and she found her way around the room to get a few drinks.

"Madeline Lockwood." A voice said from behind her.

"It's not Lockwood, it's Rush." She said in annoyance and turned to see a tall man with dark black hair and a pair of very striking blue eyes.

_Damon Salvatore._ Her eyes narrowed and she slowly took a sip of her mixed drink.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing, just admiring the view, wanted to say it's nice to finally meet you. Take it easy on the drinks, they're here all night." He smirked and pushed past her making his way towards the stairs.

Madeline finished her drink off and walked around the room some more. If someone wasn't drunk, they were high off their ass. Every party guest was under the influence of something. She saw familiar broad shoulders a few feet away from her and she smiled realizing it was Matt. He caught her eye and immediately smiled, waving at her and beckoning her to go to where he was.

Crossing over through the room, she finally stopped in front of him and stood up on her toes to hug him.

"Hi, I'm so glad you're here! I at least no one other person, I should really get out more." She said with a small pout.

"You're not just here for the summer right?" he asked.

"Nope. Finishing my senior with all of you here!" she said with a big smile.

"That's great! Your parents are moving down too or what?" he asked.

A small frown came to her face and she sighed, "No, but that's a story for later. Right now though, let's go get our drink on!" she said and he smiled. "Hell yeah."

As the night dragged on, she had spent most of it dancing with Matt and drinking like there was no tomorrow. This included multiple breaks to the bathroom. The alcohol was going through her system quickly. As soon as Madeline finished up after her fifth run to the bathroom, she went out after washing her hands but didn't see Matt anywhere. She walked around the house and finally spotted him somewhere in what looked to be like a den full of books.

"You left me." She said with a playful pout and then her eyes widened, "With good reason..." she laughed, eyeing the rolled up blunt between the two boys sitting.

Both Matt and Elena's younger brother Jeremy, who she had seen earlier that day, laughed. She grabbed the joint and inhaled for a moment. Sucking in the smoke, she held it in for a few seconds and slowly blew it out slowly in Matt's face and she winked. They both watched Jeremy as he taught them to blow out O's which Maddie managed to do once by accident. When they finished up, Matt took her hand and escorted her out of the smoker's zone.

Before they could step out, Elena and Caroline showed up and they smiled at each other.

Matt leaned in to Elena and kissed her cheek, "Happy birthday." He said with a cheeky grin.

_This boy was so faded._

Madeline giggled involuntarily and after Elena thanked him, he squeezed Madeline's hand and they headed out, laughing like two little kids thanks to the effect of the marijuana.

Half an hour later they were in the middle of a game called _Suck and Blow_ and Madeline had to kiss the girl on her left about three times because she kept dropping the card. She could have sworn the girl was doing it on purpose but she hardly minded. Matt was on her right and she had maybe accidentally let the card drop at least once. He had stood up after a while to use the rest room and she followed him, grabbing a drink on the way. When he finished, he spotted Caroline and went to exchange a few words with her.

Figuring that they needed a moment, she stood off to the side swaying to the music. She could see her cousin Tyler dancing all sleazy with some blonde chick. She knew Caroline wasn't too happy; if she were a cartoon, she'd literally be blowing steam out of her ears. Or shooting lasers at everyone with her stare.

After a few snide comments to Tyler from Caroline when he had made his way over, Madeline turned to her cousin and rolled her eyes.

"You are so clueless." She muttered.

"Obviously! What the hell do I do!?" he asked desperately.

"Just… go for her man. Just do it." She slurred.

"You're drunk, how are you giving me advice right now?"

"Drunk words are sober thoughts my friend." She patted his shoulder and walked away.

Not too long later, Matt decided he wanted to go home and after seeing Tyler run off with Caroline just a few minutes earlier, he offered to take her home.

They had both gone outside and just as they reached a tree, Madeline stopped and pushed him up against the tree.

"Maddie what are you-"

Madeline cut him off by bringing her lips close to his. He leaned in and kissed her back, fighting with her to take control. Madeline wasn't sure what had gone over her she just really needed to kiss his soft pink lips. They were oh so soft and nice for guy lips. After a few seconds she pulled back and then they started laughing.

"Sorry, I just really needed to let that out. I haven't kissed someone in so long." She admitted and Matt shrugged.

"Hey, whenever you need someone, I'm here." He said giving her another peck on the lips and she laughed.

"Oh shit, I left my purse in one of the kitchen cabinets. I'll be right back!" she said and ran off.

After retrieving her bag, she ran back out and saw both Matt and Jeremy waving her hands in the air to catch her attention. Apparently they would be walking because they were all too incoherent to drive. She didn't mind it all too much; it gave them time to catch up and they let her in on all the things that had been happening in town. Most of it she knew from Tyler but there were other things she hadn't known. It was refreshing to talk to people other than just Tyler and her aunt all day.

The three finally made it to Jeremy's house where Madeline knocked out cold on the couch while the boys munched out in the kitchen and talked.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

So... how was it? :) Her character development will progress, and you'll learn more about Madeline I promise! :)  
I am really rooting for this to be a Klaus/OC fic by the end, but I might have a little Matt thrown in there for the time being because he's so fucking perf. I can't handle that white boy he's my favorite little human. Sigh.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to *koipond-tea* who was my first reviewer :D to answer one of your questions hun… there will be more about Mads and the werewolf gene coming up later. :) Her mom purposely lied to her and that's all I'm gonna say about that. And yes, our favorite white boy will be a little awkward about that kiss and keep in mind, Madeline used to live in Mystic Falls when she was younger. We'll get to know more about her past there when she's talking to Matt especially. So I'll also try slowing things down just a bit :) thank you for the feed back! On with the story…

**Chapter 2 – The Hybrid**

"Hey Tyler!"

Madeline smiled at her cousin who had just walked out the door of his house.

"Hey… Mads…" he gave her a confused smile.

"Where were you… you're in last nights clothes… and was that Jeremy?" he asked.

"Yeah, I kinda passed out on his couch last night after _someone _abandoned me. Where are you going?"

"Yeah… sorry about that. I'm headed to The Grill to see Elena. Something about Stefan." He said.

"Oh… Jeremy was headed over there right now for something as well, I don't know. But whatever, I hope last night was worth leaving me stranded." She said running up the steps.

"It definitely was!" Tyler called back with a laugh.

Madeline shook her head with a smile and entered the house. She looked around and noticed it seemed fairly quiet. As she made her way to the kitchen, she heard a quiet chatter coming from the dayroom so she backtracked. She could hear her aunt talking quietly to someone on the phone and she cleared her throat to make her presence known. Carol quickly turned around after ending her phone call.

"Oh honey! There you are!"

Madeline smiled, "Sorry I didn't mean to worry you or anything… I fell asleep at Elena and Jeremy's house last night I was too tired to call or hitch a ride with anyone I hope that's okay…" she said.

"Oh no, it's fine. It's good you were there with them for a while. They're… well really alone at the moment." She said with a sad smile.

Madeline nodded. With Elena and Jeremy's aunt recently gone, they were by themselves practically. She couldn't have imagined what that felt like because she still had her father and her aunt and cousin. She still had some family.

"Well, I'll be fixing up my room and what not. I have some picture frames to put up, some girl things to put away. Thank you again for everything." Madeline said with a smile and leaned in to hug her aunt.

Carol returned the hug with a great force and nodded.

"Don't even worry about it dear. I loved your mother so much. She was one of my best friends. Don't worry about anything, I just really hope you have a good time here in Mystic Falls."

With that, Madeline went to the kitchen to grab a cereal bar and up to her room. She took a quick shower and added the finishing touches to her space; a decoration here and there, some pictures to put on her desk, a few Disney snow globes she owned; she also put up a calendar next to her desk. She looked at today's date and saw that there would be a full moon tonight. Tyler would be going through his transformation… and speak of the devil, he had texted her asking if she heard from Caroline but she hadn't. Her cousin told her no one had heard from her today. Figuring that maybe she was home curing a vampire hangover, she finally found some time to relax and lay on her bed for a while before deciding to paint her toenails. She had definitely chipped the paint last night walking with Matt and Jeremy to the Gilbert's house. She laughed a little remembering just how bad they were last night.

"_I bet… you can't do a cart wheel with my heels on_!" Madeline had said to Jeremy.

Jeremy thought this was a pretty good distraction from ghosts at the moment and he happily agreed to the dare which was doing a cartwheel while intoxicated.

Madeline smiled as she cleaned the nail polish off her toes. It was a definitely a wild night and she was happy to have gotten out. It was the most fun she had had since her mom died. Trying not to relive _those_ memories, she thought about Matt and the kiss they shared. That was just slightly out of character for her to be honest. But she was under the influence and at the moment it just seemed pretty right even though she knew she'd feel bad about it later. She sighed and continued to paint her nails.

A few shiny black coats later, she was done and heard the doorbell downstairs ring. She decided to investigate and went downstairs to see who could possibly be there. She heard some voices coming from the day room and she peaked in to see the backside of a tall man and her aunt. She hid quickly and stayed quietly put against the wall.

"_It's Caroline, Bill_." She heard Carol say.

"_Caroline? What about her?"_ Madeline thought.

"_I remember the day she was born_…" Carol continued.

"_What does the rest of the council know_?" the male voice said.

"_I haven't said a word… I've been putting this together on my own for months now. Any ideas how to handle this? I can't get my hands dirty here for a lot of reasons… my niece just came into town to stay… if she finds out… I just_…"

Madeline could hear Carol sigh and the male voice spoke up.

"_She's a vampire Carol. We do what we have to do_."

Very stealthily, Madeline moved back slowly and tiptoed up the stairs as quietly and as fast as she could. She made it to her room and carefully closed the door so it wouldn't make any noise. Something was wrong with Caroline… and whoever that man was down there was about to be involved with her and she had no idea what would happen._ She had to call Tyler, she had to tell him._

After dialing her cousin's number, she heard his voice come through the line.

"Hey Mads, you finally decided to call-"

"Tyler, you need to come home now. There's something going on with Caroline."

"What?"

Madeline sighed in frustration, "Just come home, I'll tell you when you get here." she snapped the phone shut and stood there in her room.

No one had heard from Caroline today… that was for sure. She hadn't seen the girl herself at all. She was sure the blonde vampire would have been here in the morning when she got to the house but Tyler left alone.

As soon as Tyler got home, he ran upstairs and barged into his cousin's room.

Madeline looked up from her bed and frowned.

"I think something's wrong with Caroline… or will be wrong."

She began to explain the conversation she overheard between her aunt and the mysterious man and Tyler looked infuriated.

"No wonder she…" he let out a frustrated growl and Madeline stood.

"She what?"

"My mom put vervain in the coffee this morning. She was testing me… she was… she knows Caroline is a vampire now, she must have done something to her." He said and Madeline rubbed her forehead.

"Go talk to her…"

"On it." He said walking out of the room.

Madeline sighed. She had no idea what was going to happen now. The moment she arrived, Tyler had let her in on everything going on with the town, the supernatural bits anyways. He didn't want to leave her out of anything in case something happened, but he told her he would try and have her stay out of it as long as he could. He didn't want her hurt or involved. It didn't seem it would be that way for long.

Later in the evening, she decided to text Matt to see if he'd be busy later on. Thankfully he wasn't, so she got permission to borrow her aunts car. Apparently Tyler had left a few hours earlier to go sort some things out. He hadn't talked to her since they had their little talk about Caroline in the afternoon. When she finally got to Matt's house, she smiled a bit. She had spent countless afternoons getting her knees scraped there and playing hide and go seek with his sister.

After a few knocks on the door, Matt came into view and she smiled.

"Hey." She said.

"Uh… hey." He said with a lopsided smile.

"I was kind of bored, like I mentioned earlier. Also I kind of wanted to talk…" she said.

"Uh yeah, sure. No problem." He said.

Waiting a moment, she cleared her throat and pointed ahead.

"You gonna let me in?" she asked.

"Oh… yeah sorry. Come in." he said awkwardly and stood back to let her pass.

Smiling a little, she walked passed him and into the small house. She knew that he wasn't apart of the founding families, which meant he wasn't as wealthy as some of the rest. That never bothered her or her parents in the least when she was younger like it did her uncle and aunt.

"You're all alone here?" she asked going to sit on the couch.

"Um, yeah. Pretty much. Have been since…" he stopped and sighed.

"I know, it's okay." She said quietly.

Taking a deep breath in, she slipped her shoes off and brought her legs up underneath her on the couch.

"My mom died a few months ago." She said.

Matt looked up instantly and had a worried look on his face.

"Maddie I am so, so… sorry. How?" he asked.

Matt went ahead and sat down next to her. Madeline turned so she was sitting sideways and she shrugged her shoulders. It was now or never. She had to be able to open up to people about her moms death easier. She fiddled with the moon crescent chain on her neck her mother had given her before she died and she looked up.

"Breast cancer. It hit her pretty hard out of nowhere; by the time we found out it was too late. She knew there was something wrong and she never said anything." She said.

"Damn Madeline… that must have been so hard. I'm so sorry."

Madeline brought her knees up to her chest, "Yeah… it was you know? It was really hard. I was… not at a good place at the point, it was really bad. That's the reason I'm here. We were all in California at the time. My dad's job had us traveling and neither my mom nor I minded so it was fun. I was home schooled when I moved out of Mystic Falls. Everything was great, we were having so much fun and then it just… happened. We moved to New York after she died but I don't know… I became really depressed. My dad figured it might be good if I was around Tyler and back here in town to have a year of normalcy… look how it's turned out so far. Vampires, werewolves, witches… I'm waiting for someone to tell me there's a lochness monster hiding in one of the lakes!"

Matt smiled sadly and nodded, "Us humans… we gotta stick together. I'll be here for you if anything alright?"

Madeline smiled, "Thanks for that."

Leaning in, she hugged him and leaned back.

"Also… I didn't want to mention it but… about last night…"

Matt scratched his neck and shook his head, "Nah… hey… we were drunk. I was high off my ass and you were too. We don't have to talk about that I don't even remember it."

Madeline nodded and stood up. She walked over to the small fireplace and saw a few picture frames. One was of him and his sister Vicki. She smiled at how cute they both looked. Vicki was always a troublemaker even as a little girl but she was the funniest thing.

"I miss her too, just so you know. I'm really sorry I wasn't around."

Matt shrugged, "It's okay. Doesn't matter anymore."

"I remember whenever I was over, she'd get so jealous that I'd be spending time with you…" Madeline laughed, "She'd always ask me to braid her hair, my mom would show me new ways to do it and I'd practice on Vic."

"She was something…" he said with a sigh.

"She was." Madeline said then something came to mind.

"Do you know if Tyler is going to be okay tonight? With the transformation?" she asked.

Matt looked at her with his eyebrows furrowed, "Well, I asked him about it earlier. He said he could handle it, and I'm counting on him that he will."

Madeline nodded her head, "I hope so." she said, a bit worried for her cousin.

Matt stood up and took her hand, "I'm gonna need you to help me with something." He said.

"What is it?" Madeline asked with curiosity.

"Well… there are some things of hers in the garage. I need to look through some boxes to find some of her stuff. You mind helping me out?" he asked.

Madeline was sure this was big for Matt.

"Sure. Let's go." She said with an encouraging smile.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

SOOOOO I hope that was good! Yes? No? I'd love any kind of feedback, it always helps! :)))


	3. Chapter 3

This will be two episodes in one since the first I wasn't really sure what to do with it exactly without making it extremely boring for you guys :( lol. Also I'm using word pad and not Microsoft Word so I'm sorry for any mistakes I missed :((

**Chapter 3 – The End of the Affair / Disturbing Behavior**

"She knows."

Madeline looked up from her iPad to see her cousin Tyler close the door behind him and he sighed.

"She knows… what? Who?"

"My mom. She knows I'm a werewolf."

Madeline's eyes widened, "What?!"

"Last night, I chained myself up and I brought her down with me and she saw everything. She's keeping Caroline at the old Forbes underground jail cell."

"Are you going to try and help her?" she asked sitting up.

"Obviously… my mom had no idea what was going on. She didn't know Caroline was on the good side. I talked to Caroline's mom already… she's on it now and we're going to find a way to get her out tonight."

Madeline sighed, "I'm sorry this happened to her."

Jumping off her bed, she walked towards Tyler and hugged him tightly.

"I wish things weren't so complicated." He said, wrapping his arms around her.

"I know. I'm so sorry. It must be horrible… how was last night?" she asked.

"Not as bad… I controlled myself." He said.

"I'm so glad I don't have to go through that…" Madeline muttered, pulling away.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well… the werewolf gene isn't passed down to the woman. Only the males." Madeline said as if it were obvious.

Tyler shook his head, "Mads, I don't think it works that way…"

"My mom told me so… right before she died." Madeline said with confusion.

"Maddie, honestly… I don't think it works like that. I'm more than sure you have that gene. But we're not going to find out because I want you to stay as safe as possible. Don't…. kill anyone alright?" he said with seriousness.

Madeline rolled her eyes, "Tyler please. I'm not going to kill anyone. Plus, my mom wouldn't lie to me like that."

Tyler sighed, "Just be careful. I'm gonna go get ready for tonight."

Madeline thought about what Tyler had said.

From what she knew, you had to kill someone to activate the "curse" as her mother had called it. But she had also told her that the gene wasn't passed down to any Lockwood woman… that was the truth, no? Her mother wouldn't have lied to her. It was one of the last conversations they had before she died. Suddenly she felt confused, but she didn't want to dwell on it.

Later that night, Tyler had told her they got Caroline safely out of where she was being held. Apparently the man that was in the house the previous day was her father. She couldn't imagine how brainwashed her father had to be to have done that to his own daughter. She called Tyler while he was with Caroline to make sure she was okay. She would be within time.

* * *

The next day Caroline arrived bright and early at the Lockwood mansion.

"_I'm kidnapping you for the day. You need to spend some quality girl time with me and the others, plus I want you to come with me to pick up Bonnie._"

Madeline had happily agreed. There were preparations being made at the mansion for the day's festivities. There was going to be some kind of lunch gathering and she didn't feel like being stuck inside all day. She also took this time to ask Caroline if she was really okay after what happened. From what Tyler described, it wasn't so pretty.

"Hey Caroline… you're okay right?" she asked.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" she said.

"Well… I mean after what happened and with your dad and all…"

"Don't even worry about that. It's in the past now. I'm getting over it and trying to move on. Let's just… not bring it back up." She said and Madeline nodded.

Caroline was a strong girl. She was sometimes a little pushy and controlling, but strong. Madeline admired that about her from what she had gotten to know about Care. She had definitely changed since the last time she had seen her.

The pair arrived at Bonnie's house in no time and they went to get out. After a few knocks on the door, a beautiful girl stepped out no older than they were and Madeline instantly smiled.

"Bonnie!" the girls yelled.

"Ahh! Caroline I missed you! And oh my goodness, Maddie is that you?"

Madeline smiled, "It's been so long! Look at you, oh my god!"

The girls embraced for a moment before Bonnie spoke again.

"What are you doing here in Mystic Falls?"

Madeline smiled softly, "Well, I moved in with Tyler. My mom died a few months ago. My dad figured I needed to be around familiar people again." She said.

Bonnie frowned and went to hug the brunette again.

"Oh, I am so sorry. I've been gone all summer I've missed so much. I'm glad you're here though, this town never gets boring I promise you." She said with a small laugh.

"Well, let's get going, My chili is going to get all gross and we still have to get to Elena's house!" Caroline piped in.

"Yeah, yeah let's go, let me just get my bag!" Bonnie said with a smile.

The girls gathered together in Caroline's car and sped off to Elena's. Bonnie filled the car with useless chatter about how her summer was at her normal side of the family's was. Madeline was quickly informed about Bonnie's witchy abilities and she wasn't quite sure how she hadn't gone crazy with all the information she had recently received.

As soon as they got to Elena's, the girls all quickly played catch up while Elena made chili from an old family recipe. It seemed like a thing in this town. She idly wondered how much chili there was going to be…

"Where's Tyler?"

Madeline looked over at Caroline who had decided to bring the girl into their conversation noticing she felt a little left out.

"Um, he left really early for football practice with Matt. They're conditioning and what not, I don't know." She said with a shrug.

"Hmm." Caroline murmured going over to help Elena with the chili pot.

"So… since when do you know how to cook?" Caroline asked Elena.

Madeline went to sit next to Bonnie on the counter.

"Damon helped a little." Elena said with a sigh.

At the mention of that d-bags name, Madeline scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Bonnie looked at her with the same expression and turned to Elena.

"Damon's helping you cook now?"

"All of you stop judging me. He's trying to be good now-oww!"

The three girls jumped a little in surprise when Elena cried out and Madeline instantly thought she had burned herself.

"Did I splash you?" Caroline asked, setting the pot down quickly.

"No-no, my necklace!" Elena said with a grunt and she looked down to pull the necklace off her skin.

"It burned me." She said.

The four girls looked at each other in confusion before Caroline shrugged and spoke up, "Maybe it's a sign you shouldn't be wearing it."

"Caroline…" Bonnie sighed.

"What? I'm just saying… You know, if you're going to be cooking with Stefan.." she continued.

Madeline shrugged, "That's true I guess… in a way."

Elena and Bonnie looked over at her and shook their heads.

"Let me see it…" Bonnie said reaching over the counter.

Elena extended her arm and just as Bonnie touched it, it was as if some electrical current ran through them and they heard a 'zap' before a small spark came from the necklace and they all gasped as both girls dropped the chain and looked at each other in shock.

"What the hell?" Madeline and Caroline said in unison.

"Okay… I have no idea what that was. But I'm gonna go home and look through some of my books to see if I can find anything on what the hell just happened. I'll ask Jeremy to take me and I'll meet you guys at Tyler's." Bonnie said.

The girls nodded just as she stood up and left the room.

"That was so weird." Madeline muttered.

Elena carefully went to touch the necklace again but nothing happened. She slipped it into the pocket of her dress and shrugged. Turning to pick up a pot cover, she put it over the bowl of chili and sighed.

"Let's just get going." She muttered.

Caroline and Madeline looked at each other before standing up. The girls got their things together and headed back to the Lockwood mansion. The house was already filled with townspeople. The backyard was full with people roaming around and eating and talking.

Carol had really outdone herself for this lunch.

Madeline went straight to the food table and promised to meet up with the girls as soon as Bonnie got there. She looked around and grimaced at the fact that there were about seven chili bowls.

"Disgusting." She muttered.

"I know right? Imagine having to eat that every other day."

Madeline looked up to see Damon with a smirk on his face.

"You're disgusting." She said narrowing her eyes.

"No need to get feisty." He said, holding his hands up.

"You killed my uncle." She said crossing her arms.

"You're never going to get over that, are you?"

Madeline's eyes widened and she shook her head, "You're not even worth my time. Good bye." She said, picking up a bread roll and turning to leave.

Making her way through the throng of townspeople, she walked further away from the crowd and saw Caroline waving her over. She made her way to where the girls were and squeezed in next to Bonnie. She saw her holding open a big old book. She was sure this was some kind of spell book or something. It was pretty cool to see an actual witch book in person.

"What are you looking for?" Madeline asked while Caroline chastised Elena about Damn.

"An identification spell. It might help me figure out what was going on with the necklace…" she muttered and Madeline's eyes widened.

The necklace was starting to move on its own.

"Hey guys…" Bonnie said with shock.

"What… what are you doing?" Caroline asked.

"I'm doing anything…" Bonnie said quietly, "It has its own magic."

The girls watched as the necklace lifted up into the air on its own. This was definitely a first for Madeline. She had no idea what to say. _What the hell was going on here?_

"This is so weird…" Bonnie said.

"You're telling me." Madeline muttered.

"I'm gonna go home and look through all my books and grimoires alright?" Bonnie said, standing up and closing her book.

The girls nodded, "Just call me if anything." Elena said.

Just as Bonnie left, the three looked at each other.

"This is just… I have no idea what I've gotten myself into." Madeline said with a shake of her head.

"Let's just go enjoy the party for now." Caroline said standing up.

"Let's." Madeline said standing up with her.

The girls returned to the party and chatted with some people. Madeline was dragged along with her aunt to meet a few people. She was just a little jealous that Tyler didn't have to be here at the moment. She would kill to not have to be at these types of gatherings. A few more hours of this were all she could handle.

It was already later in the evening when she let her aunt know she'd be upstairs in her room; she had a slight headache and seeing all the chili that was still on the food table was making her nauseous. She went straight up to her room and slipped her shoes off. She heard a noise down the hallway and went out to tell whoever was there that second floor was off limits, but she saw Caroline enter Tyler's room.

"Hey." She said softly.

"Oh! Hey… sorry was I not supposed to be up here?" Caroline asked.

Madeline smiled, "Nah it's okay. You're one of the few I don't mind. Why are you here though?"

"My dad's downstairs and I just… I couldn't see him you know." She said.

Madeline was more than sure she was seeing a vulnerable side to Caroline at the moment.

Making a move to sit on the bed, she patted the spot next to her. Caroline set her purse down and went to lie back next to Maddie. She let out a deep sigh and fiddled with her hair.

"So, you really like Tyler, huh?" Madeline said after a moment.

Caroline turned her head to look at her and she narrowed her eyes.

"It's pretty obvious." She said with a small laugh.

"Yeah, I do. I just… I don't know. Is it so wrong?" Caroline asked.

Madeline thought about it for a moment.

"Well… yeah. It's pretty wrong. He's a werewolf, you're a vampire. But at the same time, why should it be wrong? You're just two teenagers. You can't help whom you like. You're just a human, Caroline." She said.

"True. It's nice that you're back by the way. I know we never really got along when we were younger. It's time to fix that."

Madeline laughed, "We were like ten alright? I'll never forget we wore the same shirt on the first day of school and you flat out hated me from then on."

The girls laughed together and began sharing memories from when they were younger. It was nice to finally have some girl time with someone. For Madeline that had been really rare in the last few months with everything she had been going through. They were lost in their own thoughts for a while when they heard the door open and Tyler came through.

"How was football practice?" Caroline asked as they both sat up.

"Hey… what are you two doing here?" Tyler asked with a confused look but quickly smiled.

"Hiding out from my dad." Caroline said with a sigh.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at Caroline and she nodded, looking down.

"Do you need me to kick his ass?" he asked and they both smiled.

"Yes. No…" Caroline laughed, "I bought him the shirt he's wearing, it's really expensive."

"And through everything," she continued, "He's still my dad. You know?"

Tyler nodded as he held her shoulders, and leaned in to kiss her forehead. Madeline couldn't help but smile and was about to get up when Caroline pushed him away.

"God you reek!" Caroline said.

"What?" Tyler asked looking from Caroline to Maddie.

Madeline nodded and plugged her nose.

"No… this is sexy." He said and they both laughed.

"No… it's really bad." Caroline said with a giggle and he shook his head coming closer to her and kissing her.

"Okay, that's my cue to go." Madeline said with a small laugh as they ignored her and she closed the door on her way out.

It was really sweet how much Tyler had changed. It was true, with her he was pretty cool but he used to be a bit of a dick. She was sure a lot of that came from how his dad abused him. Tyler would talk to her about it all the time, she was his closest friend, but a lot had changed. He was definitely a better person with other people now as well.

Just as she reached her room, she went in and looked for a change of clothes. She got out some of her pajamas for the night and set them on the bed. She took off her earrings and headband, setting them on her desk. She heard the door to her room open and she turned to see Tyler, who wasn't wearing a shirt.

"That fast? What a disappointment." She said with a laugh and Tyler rolled his eyes.

"No, there's something going on downstairs with Damon. Caroline is taking care of it."

"Mhmm." She said and slipped her jean jacket off.

"So… that kiss was pretty cute back there." she gave Tyler a knowing look and he sat on her bed.

"You mattress is so much softer than mine."

"Don't change the subject." She warned.

"Alright, alright. Yeah, it was cute. She's cute." Tyler said and she smiled.

"Give it a shot. What's the worst that can happen?" she said.

"I bite her and we don't find the cure for the bite on time?" he said with a shrug and Madeline scoffed.

"That's not something to joke about." She said seriously.

"I like her, okay? I'm going to make sure she stays safe as well."

"Okay… I believe you." She said.

"Goodnight Mads." He said standing up and leaving the room.

Smiling, she went to shower and get ready for bed.

* * *

Madeline was sitting at the kitchen bar eating her breakfast when Tyler and Carol walked in.

"Morning." Carol said cheerfully.

Madeline raised an eyebrow and replied with a mouthful.

"Oh honey, don't talk with your mouth full." She said with a frown and turned to pour herself some coffee.

"Yeah Mads, don't talk with your mouth full." Tyler mocked and she shoved him as he sat next to her.

"Fuck off." She muttered under her breath.

Tyler laughed and bit into an apple.

"So, school's starting up in a few days. Madeline you have everything you need?" Carol asked bringing her steaming cup up to her lips.

"Yep. I have all my clothes, and I have some notebooks from last year I can use to start off with." She said.

"That's good. If you need anything, just let me know. I'll be a bit busy with some things and gathering up some information for a council meeting soon so Tyler make sure you watch out for her as well."

Tyler rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

With that, Carol turned to leave the room. Tyler took that moment to playfully shove his cousin. She shoved him back and finished off the milk in her cereal bowl.

"So… what's the plan for today?" she asked when she finished.

"No plans. Want to get some lunch at the Grill later?" Tyler said.

Madeline stood up to go wash her bowl in the sink, "Will Matt be there?" she asked.

Tyler scoffed, "Why do you want to know?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full." She scolded.

"Whatever." He muttered.

"Just wondering, that's all…" she said with a shrug.

"Caroline wants to discuss the events for senior prank night before school starts so... and yes he'll be there." Tyler said with a look.

"Great, I'll be ready by three."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

Mmmmm, I tried my best here. I have the ending of the last chapter written, it was the first thing I wrote before I started on the beginning so it's a lot harder to go on with it than you think, lol. I really love the ending to be honest (for the finale of season 4), and the ideas I have for the characters… I just have to focus on writing it out lol. SO THERE YOU GO :) Reviews aka thoughts on how the story is going along would be great encouragement to help me continue :)

P.S. I HAVE A POLYVORE ACCOUNT LINK ON MY PROFILE SO YOU CAN CHECK OUT PICTURES/OUTFITS, ETC :D


	4. Chapter 4

**This is a stand-alone chapter :) Not following along any episodes. (_Picks up right where the last chapter left off though_)**

**Chapter 4 – It's a Date**

As soon as Tyler and Madeline arrived at the Grill, they went directly to where Caroline and Elena were.

"Hey guys." Madeline said with a smile.

Sliding into the booth across from the girls, Tyler went ahead and sat next to her.

"So, what's up?" he said.

"Well, we are devising our plans for prank night. I have a list of things we can do, and we can decide who's getting what prank." Caroline said with a clip board in front of her.

Madeline looked up at Elena and they both laughed.

"Where's Bonnie?" Madeline asked.

"She's busy with Jer, she has been non stop looking through books trying to figure out what happened with the necklace." Elena said.

Madeline nodded; she noticed she hadn't been wearing it. Since she had moved into town, the few times she saw Elena, she had been wearing it. She looked rather uncomfortable but she didn't say anything.

"Alrighty." She answered.

"Alright well, let's get down to business." Caroline said.

The four immediately began throwing ideas around.

"Rat traps?" Madeline offered.

Caroline squealed, "That's perf Maddie!"

"Toilet paper the halls..." Elena said.

"We can put clear wrap on the faculty toilets?" Tyler said and they all agreed.

"My freshman year in high school, the seniors at the end of the year put fake snow on a bunch of teachers desks..." Madeline said and they laughed.

"I'm definitely going to have to go to the hardware store for all of this..." Caroline thought aloud.

They started to talk about the teachers, and since Madeline had no idea who most of the teachers were, she let the other three decide what teachers got which pranks. The only teacher she really knew of was Mr. Saltzman; aka Alaric.

From what she learned, Alaric had been dating Elena's aunt before she died. Caroline was the one who had told her the story. He was at the moment living in the Gilbert house but going back and forth to his apartment in town. She told her about Klaus as well, and she just couldn't imagine all that had happened. Madeline was sometimes about ready to bolt back to New York after receiving some kind of supernatural news.

Madeline blocked the group out after a while and looked around the restaurant. She saw Matt by the bar and she smiled. Sliding out of the booth, she stood up and the three looked at her.

"I'll be right back." She said, excusing herself.

They all raised an eyebrow at her and watched as she made her way to the bar.

One thing Madeline wasn't aware of was that Elena had dated Matt just over a year ago, and Caroline had recently got out of a relationship with him.

Caroline smirked, "Looks like someone has eyes for our Mattie. Maddie and Mattie, that's really cute." She said.

Tyler scoffed, "Please."

Elena shrugged; she was over Matt in the boyfriend way. They had been dating for a while and it was because they were such good friends, and then after her parents died, everything changed.

"I mean, there's nothing wrong with that." She said.

"Mads better not get any ideas…" Tyler said looking over at his cousin who had just sat at the bar and was waiting patiently as Matt served a customer.

"Well… it's her life. She can do what she wants, and Matt is a good guy, you know?" Caroline said and Tyler rolled his eyes.

"I'm going out for a few. Let Mads know I'll be around." He said and stood up.

Both girls sighed and looked over at Madeline one more time before going into a conversation about Stefan.

"So Maddie, what brings you here?" Matt asked wiping down the counter.

Madeline smiled, "I was with the crew over there plotting revenge." She said and Matt laughed.

"When did you get in?" she asked.

"Uh, about noon. I'm not supposed to be here today but I offered to pick up a shift for this other guy who was sick. And Jeremy also had his day off but he's with Bonnie." He said.

Madeline nodded, "When do you get off?"

Matt looked down at his watch before looking back up, "It's five now so like around six?"

"Ah, okay… I was wondering, you wanna hang out after?" she asked with a small smile.

Matt continued to wipe down a part of the counter before sighing and looking up, "Sure."

"That doesn't sound like a very enthusiastic 'sure'." She said lightly.

Matt shook his head, "No sorry. It's just…. I haven't been able to get much sleep lately. I was thinking of crashing once I was out of here but I mean, why the hell not? We can get out of town for a while." He said with a smile.

Madeline returned the smile but she noticed he did have a slight dark color under his eyes. They seemed more hollow than usual. She hoped whatever was bothering him would go away.

"That sounds like fun." She said and Matt grinned.

"How about I just wait around until you're done?" she offered.

"Yeah cool, I'll go ahead and make you a milkshake so the manager doesn't think you're just taking up space." He said with a laugh.

Madeline smiled, "Cool."

With a hop off the bar stool, she made her way back over to where the two girls were sitting.

"Hey so… wait, where's Tyler?" she asked with a confused look.

Caroline laughed, "He went outside, I don't know."

Madeline rolled her eyes, "He needs to stop ditching me at places."

The girls laughed a little and Elena smiled, "You know, I don't know what it is but he's so much nicer to be around when you're with him. His attitude has changed drastically since you've gotten here."

Madeline smiled, "Well, I do that to people. I just bring out the best, what can I say?"

They smiled and Caroline nodded, "It's true though, he was always such a pain to be around. He was getting a little better but ever since you've been around he's a lot… well… nicer. Yeah."

"I'm glad then. We were always really close, I mean I'm his only cousin." She said and looked down for a moment before continuing.

"He's been there for me through thick and thin and I've always done the same for him. Don't say I ever said this… but he would call me crying some nights because of his dad. Uncle Richard was always a bit brute, but… I later found out it's because of the werewolf curse. That's why he was always on edge, especially with Tyler. I'm just… you know, not glad, but relieved that uncle Richard isn't really around anymore." She finished, a bit ashamed.

The girls looked at her with frowns but they understood.

"Anywho though, to lighten the mood a bit, I think Matt and I are going out later. So… I have no idea what to tell Tyler." Madeline said.

Caroline bit back a laugh, and she also thought that she wouldn't say anything that both girls in front of her had dated him. It wasn't fair to shove it in her face and at least let her have a chance.

"Don't worry about that, we got you covered. We'll say you're staying at Elena's for the night or something. You go have fun." She said and Elena nodded with a small smile.

"Cool, thanks." Madeline said with a laugh.

The girls soon left and after about an hour, and two very delicious milkshakes (which came out of Matt's pocket) he was finally done and they were headed out.

"So where to?" Madeline asked.

She noticed he had changed from his work uniform and he smelled decent, not of food.

"I was thinking we could catch a movie, out of town. The theater here is pretty small, there's a bigger one about thirty miles out?" he said.

"That sounds pretty good. Let's go then." She said.

They got into Matt's truck and headed off. Forty-five minutes later they arrived at the theater. It was in a big shopping center with lots of different stores and restaurants. It was much more lively than Mystic Falls; that was sure-much more age appropriate. In the truck, they put the music on and talked just a little to pass the time, while Madeline looked up movie times on her phone.

"So, _House at the End of the Street_ it is?" Madeline asked.

"Yup. That's the one." Matt said as he opened up his door.

He went around quickly and had enough time to open up Maddie's door while she was preoccupied with her phone.

"Jennifer Lawrence is pretty hot. I'd definitely turn for her." She said getting out, "Thank you." She said with a smile as he closed the truck door behind her.

"No problem, and yeah she is. Nice to know you'd leave me in a second for her."

Madeline laughed, "Oh yeah, definitely. Sorry Mattie." She said.

They walked the short distance from the parking lot to the box offices and they asked for two tickets. There was a bit of fighting over who was going to pay, and they finally decided Matt would pay for the tickets, and she would pay for the popcorn. She wasn't used to the slight attention he was giving her. Sure, she had boyfriends before but that was a long time ago. It took a while to get back in the game, for her at least.

The pair headed in to the concession area and as soon as they made it up to the front, Madeline ordered a large popcorn and Coke; two straws. She was very aware of how Matt seemed a little shy at moments; to her it was pretty cute.

They got their food along with some napkins and headed to their left to get into the theater. They found two good seats towards the top middle half and sat right in the center. Matt held the popcorn and she put the drink between them. They were pretty quiet until the previews started.

A couple just two rows down from them began making out and Madeline couldn't help but internally face palm herself.

_Way to make things awkward people!_

Matt took that moment to concentrate on the popcorn in his lap and began eating. She was hardly paying attention to the cool previews, which was her favorite part about going to the movies, and could only focus on the couple below sucking each others faces off.

"I can't believe those two." Madeline sighed quietly.

Of course she would be the braver one to mention anything.

Matt laughed quietly and shrugged, "I guess."

She looked over at him and grabbed a handful of popcorn, throwing a piece at him.

The movie was just about to start when they both heard the guy below them moan.

A few people looked back at the couple with irritated faces; even in the dark it was noticeable how annoyed they were.

"That's just… something else." Matt said and shifted uncomfortably.

Madeline smiled a little and took a sip of the drink in between them.

The movie started then and they were pretty quiet throughout it. It was pretty weird in the beginning. The couple below continued to make out and both Matt and Madeline tried to ignore them. One person actually walked out and after about twenty minutes, Madeline was sure they weren't coming back.

It was around the climax of the movie, and their popcorn was halfway done. Jennifer Lawrence's character was running through the guy's house and getting into a car because she found out Max Thieriot's character was actually the crazy person. The music was pretty dramatic but what happened next had Matt blushing.

"_Oh shhh-I'm gonna cum Britt!"_

It was said rather quietly but loud enough that whoever was close could hear and Madeline's mouth dropped open.

_Was that seriously going on?_

Madeline looked over at Matt who was staring down at the popcorn and munching on it trying not to be obvious that he had just heard _that._

"Gimme the popcorn, let's go." She whispered and Matt nodded.

Taking another last sip of their drink, Matt followed the girl out of their row and he stopped when he saw her walking into the row where the couple was… ahem…

"You guys are gross, stay home next time instead of ruining everyone's time here."

With that, she dumped the popcorn over their heads and the girl shrieked. Someone a few rows down started to clap and Matt smiled. Madeline turned and took his hand and they walked out of the theater. Once they were out of the room, they burst out laughing.

"That was so awkward, oh my goodness." she said.

Matt chuckled and was very vividly aware of their hands that were intertwined.

"Yeah, that was weird. Not something you see everyday."

Madeline smiled as they reached the double doors to head outside.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to stay 'til the end… they were just… annoying me." She said.

"Nah, don't worry about it. We can always find it online and finish it." He said.

They walked hand in hand quietly to the truck and Matt opened up the door for Madeline.

Once they were both in, they started off back home. It was pretty quiet for the most part until Madeline spoke up. "So… is this considered a date?"

Matt looked at her for a moment before turning his eyes back on the road.

"If you want to call it that, then I'd be more than happy to say yes."

Matt was already getting over Caroline pretty quickly. He had loved her, sure; but he realized they just couldn't be more than friends. With everything going on at the moment, and him being slightly depressed because of Vicki, he felt this would be a good distraction from it all. Madeline was a beautiful girl; she was smart, and funny. She had a tongue when the moment called for it, he saw that tonight as well. He was pretty happy she mentioned this being a date because he would have felt too reserved to say anything.

"Awesome then. Even though it was cut short, this was one of the nicest dates I've been on." She said.

Matt smiled and bit his lip looking down to the side. He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers. Just like old times…

"Just like old times." He said.

Madeline smiled, "Exactly."

They both laughed a little and were quiet the rest of the way back home.

As soon as Matt reached the Lockwood house, he cut the engine off and turned a little to Maddie.

"I hope you had a good time, despite that…"

Madeline cut him off, "It was fine. It was totally fun. The movie was pretty good and like you said, we can always finish it online. You know, one time I actually had something similar happen to me in New York. I was out with some people and the same thing happened except it was in a restroom. Crazy shit happens in New York though, I'm just surprised we saw that here." She finished with a laugh.

"You'll have to tell me more stories from New York then. I'd love to hear it… not like I'll ever get a chance to go so…" he said with a shrug and Madeline bit her lip.

Deciding not to ruin the moment, she perked up and smiled softly.

"It's a date then." She said.

Leaning in, she kissed his cheek, which was really soft and got her bag, opening the truck door and getting out. She walked up the long path to the steps in front and as soon as she got to the door, she took out her key and unlocked the bolt. She turned on the outside lights from the switches on the wall next to the door and she heard Matt's truck start up.

Closing the door behind her quietly, she locked it and started to tiptoe up the stairs. As soon as she reached the top, she was about to go into her room when she heard a voice behind her.

"Why does it look like you're sneaking in?"

Madeline turned to see her aunt Carol and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry I wasn't, I just wasn't sure if you guys were sleeping or not. Seeing as the time is pretty late…"

Carol nodded, "Tyler said you were at Elena's?"

"Uh yeah, with her and Caroline. We were just having some quality girl time." She said with a smile.

Carol smiled back and nodded, "That's great honey. I'm glad you're doing good here."

Madeline nodded, "Yup. Where's Ty by the way?"

Carol looked over at Tyler's bedroom door and back, "He's sleeping. I checked in on him about an hour ago and he was out like a light."

"Ah, okay. Well I'm pretty tired so I'm gonna go now…" she said and Carol nodded.

"Goodnight sweetie."

"Night aunt Carol."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

I reallllllyyyyyy hope this was good :) I had her interact with the characters a bit more and especially with Matt! I wanted a bit of fluffyness; he's so cute ugh. And so awkward haha, I had to add in an awkward situation. Next chapter, Klaus will be in it o.o shits on and poppin'… Reviews would be great encouragement! :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Don't forget while it's not super important, I have a polyvore linked on my account with outfits as a side bonus to the story :) So check them out if you'd like!**

**Chapter 5 – The Reckoning: Part 1**

"Tyler I have no idea what to wear!"

"You're kidding me. How long have we been at this now?"

Madeline had been trying to pick out an outfit for her first day of school tomorrow for about three hours now. She had tried on literally every outfit she could think of. It was giving her major anxiety. Tyler had been lying on her bed for moral support.

_Some moral support he is…_

"Ugh, don't sass me. I'm nervous!" Madeline said in a rush.

"Sorry. I didn't realize this is really a worry for you. Listen, you're beautiful. Whatever you wear will look just fine. If you're really worried, I'll call Caroline for her to come help you." He said sitting up.

"Fine, fine. Sorry. I just want to make a good impression you know?" she said going to sit next to him.

"I know, but relax. You're going to be fine, I promise you cuz." He said and wrapped an arm around her.

Madeline sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"You're getting buff. I can feel it. Football practice must be kicking your ass." She said with a laugh.

"You have no idea. Coach has gone completely mental on us. Stefan never showed up to practice and he's worried about not having him on the team this season…"

"Why?" she asked.

She knew that Stefan had been gone the entire summer. Something was wrong with him, and Elena hardly talked about it when she was around the few times they had been together. Apparently it had something to do with Damon… of course. She had no idea though.

"Stefan is gone with Klaus. We have no idea whether we should rely on him or not. So yeah… coach has us working over time." Tyler said.

"I see."

Tyler's phone ringing brought them out of their bubble and he reached into his pocket.

"Hey Care." He said after answering.

Madeline lay back on the bed and rested her hands on her stomach.

"Yeah yeah… we'll be there soon. Are you getting everyone else ready?" he said.

"Alright cool. I'll see you in a bit then. Lov-…. Bye."

Madeline sat up and looked at him.

"You were about to…"

"Nope. Don't even say it." He said, cutting her off.

"Mhmm. Whatever. Let's go get ready for tonight." She said dismissing the conversation.

Tonight was senior prank night, also known as the day before school started. Caroline was in charge of making sure everyone did their part in tonight's fun. That included Madeline of course, the newest addition to Mystic Falls High. She wasn't going to be off the hook that easily.

Getting ready, she dressed in some jeans, combat boots, and a grey off the shoulder pullover. She figured it would be a long night ahead of them, might as well be somewhat comfy. There was a knock at her door and Tyler peeked through.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She said and grabbed her phone.

They both left the house careful not to alert Carol and made a dash to Tyler's car. It was an interesting car ride while Tyler told her stories of past senior pranks. _People really had nothing better to do in this town…_

Not too long after, they finally made it to the school. There was a decent group of kids all waiting out front and Madeline spotted the familiar blonde vampire in the center of the group. Chuckling as they got out of the car, they made their way to the group.

"Oh good! You guys made it in time!" Caroline said with a squeal.

"Let's get down to business then!" Tyler said with a fist pump in the air.

The remaining group of friends that consisted of Caroline, Tyler, Madeline, Elena and Bonnie headed out to a teachers classroom. It was one of their math teachers from the year before that they weren't at all fond of so they decided to set up rattraps all around the classroom floor. It was pretty comical.

They weren't even close to being done before Madeline stood.

"These traps are hurting my fingers, I have no idea why I suggested it, I'm gonna go teepee the halls or something."

Tyler and Caroline laughed while Elena and Bonnie smiled.

"Careful where you step, turn the lights down on your way out!" Caroline called.

It was a mission and a half to walk out of the classroom but she thanked the gods when she made it out. She headed for one of the bathrooms closest to her to gather a few rolls of toilet paper. She had to be smart about how she hung it up around the halls.

Heading out through some double doors, she started with the water fountains and wrapped them completely in toilet paper. She seemed pretty proud of her work. She continued to the other water fountains in the hall. She had gone through two toilet paper rolls and was about to start on her third when she heard a noise down the hall. Figuring it was just her imagination, or some of the other students running around, she continued what she was doing and took out her cell phone.

Dialing Elena's number, she waited until she picked up and smiled as soon as she did, "Hey girl… I remember you saying something about trashing Mr. Saltzman's room, I'm pretty much done here in the hall, if you want I'll head over there with you?" Madeline offered.

"_Yeah sure, no problem, I'll be out there in a few, Matt just got here and kind of set off all the mouse traps_."

Madeline laughed, "Oh my God, poor guy, he must feel so bad. But anyways, I'll be out in the hall when you're done."

With that, she hung up and some clattering noises behind her made her drop the last paper roll she had in hand. She looked around and shrugged then bent down to pick up the roll. There was a low whistle behind her and she immediately turned around.

"Now wasn't _that_ a sight to see…"

There was a man with a smirk on his face and a menacing look in his eyes. He was tall, sandy blonde colored hair and light eyes. He had a thick British accent. Madeline's eyes widened and she took an involuntary step back.

"Now, who was that you were talking to? I'm more than sure there aren't many Elena's running around town. Gilbert, was it?" he said stepping forward.

Madeline felt like she should defend her friend.

Immediately she answered, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Who are you?"

"Niklaus, I'm sure you've heard of me. And just what might _your_ name be?" he said stepping in front of her and using his compulsion.

"Madeline Lockwood Rush." She replied.

"A Lockwood? I'm more than sure I would have seen you around during my time here. Now, love, how are you related to the wolf?" he asked.

"I'm his cousin, my mom was his uncle Richard and uncle Mason's sister." She said and took another step back.

_How in the hell was he getting this information out of her?_

"Oh well this should be fun. Another one I could possibly add to the bunch, you're coming with me. Where's Elena?" he asked.

"She's in the classroom just outside this hall, she should be coming out any minute to meet me."

"Perfect." He said grabbing her arm roughly and walking down the hall.

"You are not to go anywhere and you're to stay by my side tonight, you got that?" he said looking into her eyes and she nodded.

Niklaus could hear light footsteps coming their way and he smiled darkly. Elena came through the doors in front of them and she gasped. She looked from the man to Madeline, who looked absolutely terrified.

"There's my girl."

"Klaus!" Elena gasped.

Elena turned to run but Klaus was much faster.

"_You_ are supposed to be dead… what are we gonna do about that?" he growled.

Grabbing Elena's arm roughly he turned to do the same to Madeline and turned to walk down the hall. He was making his way to the gym area. He held onto both girls' arms in a vice like grip and they both were practically being dragged, and they both tripped quite a few times.

"You put a rather large kink in my plans, sweetheart. The whole point to breaking the curse and becoming a hybrid was to make more hybrids!" he said.

Madeline tripped once again and he held onto her tightly.

"Now… I haven't been able to do that, and my best bet is that it has something to do with the fact that you're still breathing!"

"If you're going to kill me now, just do it!" Elena rasped.

"Not until I know I'm right, but I do have ways of making you suffer." He said and kicked open the door in front of him.

"Elena what's going on?" Madeline asked with a shaky voice.

"Just calm down Madeline, everything's going to be okay." She said quietly and Klaus chuckled.

"No it's not." He said.

There was a lot of commotion in the gym; students filling up cups of water to put all around the gym floor, more toilet paper being thrown around the basketball hoops…

Klaus pushed Madeline aside rather roughly and she stumbled a bit. Elena looked at her with guilt and looked back at Klaus as he continued to drag her across the floor.

In an American accent, Klaus began, "Attention seniors! You have officially been busted; prank night is over! Head on home."

Most of the students in the gym groaned but quickly did as they were told, clearing out of the gym.

"You two… I remember you…" Klaus said.

All Madeline could do was watch from afar; she couldn't even move to run away. She realized Klaus must have compelled her. She felt knots in her stomach at that moment. He kept talking to the two students and Elena was shocked at what was happening. Madeline realized she would most likely still be able to text without him noticing, being preoccupied by the students.

Quickly, she sent a group message to Bonnie, Matt, Tyler, and Caroline.

_Gym ASAP Emergency!_

Madeline prayed the message would go through and that at least one of them would receive it.

"Dear Madeline, co'mere darling!"

The girl had no choice but to move forward. She trudged along and stood next to Klaus. Looking over at the frightened girl who stood with her leg up, she knew bad things would be happening tonight. Elena stepped forward but Klaus stopped her.

"Now, you said you're a Lockwood. By blood of course… you haven't activated the curse, have you?" he asked.

"I… no. I can't. The gene doesn't pass down to the women." She answered.

Klaus chuckled, "Oh how wrong you are, love."

Madeline took a step back, "My mom told me so. She never…" she stopped and really thought about it.

Of course her mother didn't have the gene, she had never killed anyone, is that what it was? She had just twisted what the curse actually was?

Madeline felt so stupid; her mother had lied to her? Or was she trying to protect her? She felt more confused then ever.

"Let's see then shall we… kill the boy." He said looking into her eyes.

"No, Madeline don't!" Elena shouted.

Madeline looked over at Elena and felt tears in her eyes. She didn't want to kill anyone! Klaus took a knife out of his back pocket and handed it to Madeline, "Go on. Kill the boy. Kill him." He whispered in her ear and Madeline let out a quiet sob.

This could not be happening right now… no!

"Kill him!" Klaus shouted.

Madeline flinched at the tone of his voice and stepped forward.

"There we go love, go on…" he said in a quieter voice.

The boy in the blue shirt only stood there looking just a terrified as she felt. She looked back at Elena who was yelling at her to stop, but she couldn't. She looked down at the shiny, silver blade in her hand and she continued to cry. She didn't want this to happen! Where was Tyler?

Just as she approached the boy, she lifted the knife with a shaking hand.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, letting her tears flow.

The gym doors burst open and they all turned to see Bonnie and Matt walk through.

"No! Bonnie! Get out of here!" Elena shouted.

"Bonnie, just the girl I wanted to see." Klaus said, momentarily forgetting about Madeline.

The girl looked down and saw blood seeping through the boys shirt and onto her fingers.

With a gasp, she stood back and both the boy and her fell on their knees.

"Oh my god!" she whispered and covered her mouth.

"Relax Madeline, you gave him a grave flesh wound, you didn't go in deep enough." Klaus said from behind her and she looked up at him just as he winked at her and turned back with vampire speed to stand in front of Bonnie.

What the fuck was going on here?!

Madeline sat on the floor, looking down at her shaking, bloody hands. She could barely pay attention to what was happening around her. She looked at the boy in front of her who was crying quietly and clutching his stomach.

"Hey…" Matt said quietly as he crouched down beside Madeline.

"Everything's gonna be okay, don't worry." He said quietly and wrapped his arms around her.

Madeline couldn't help but shake slightly and cry into his shirt.

The gym doors burst open and they all looked to see a blonde girl no older than any of them dragging Tyler in by the arm forcefully.

"I'd like you all to meet my sister, Rebekah. Word of warning-she can be quite mean." He said with a smile.

They turned their heads as soon as she spoke, "Don't be an ass."

Madeline was up and standing now with Matt's help.

"Leave him alone!" Madeline shouted through her tears.

Klaus ignored her and everyone around while grabbing Tyler by the neck.

"I'm going to make this very simple!" he began.

"Please, leave him alone!" Madeline yelled again.

Tyler looked at her sadly for a moment and his face changed into a pained expression while Klaus grabbed him roughly.

"Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during transition, it's quite horrible actually."

It was starting to click for Madeline. Everything that was about to happen now… she went to move forward but Matt held her in her place tightly.

Klaus bit into his wrist and then shoved it against Tyler's mouth.

"Stop it!" Madeline shouted.

"Hush now." Klaus growled at her as Tyler groaned and fought against his grip, which was no use.

"It's okay Mads..." he managed to let out, looking right at his cousin with sad eyes.

Klaus looked over at Bonnie, "I need you to find a way to save my hybrids Bonnie," he said, "And for Tyler's sake… you better hurry."

With that, he grabbed Tyler's head and twisted it, letting him go and his lifeless body fell to the ground.

Madeline cried out and Matt faltered, letting her go momentarily and she fell to the ground on her knees. Everyone else gasped as well, in shock. Klaus had just fed Tyler his blood and snapped his neck. She took that moment to crawl over to his body and she let her tears flow once again.

"Tyler!" she said shaking his body.

Nothing.

Madeline continued to cry as she held his head in her lap. Matt came over to her and wrapped an arm around her securely. Everyone else stood in their places quietly. They had no idea what to say until Matt spoke up, sounding like he was about to cry.

"He just… killed him."

Madeline sniffled and shook her head.

This couldn't happen… she couldn't lose her cousin. Her best friend.

"He's not dead." Madeline said.

He can't be.

Elena spoke up, "Maddie… you could be right. Klaus's blood will turn him into a vampire…"

Klaus came over to them and Madeline cringed.

"And if Bonnie's successful, he'll live through his transition. So… go on then… go and fetch your grimoires and enchantments and what not… I'll hold on to Elena... for safe keeping." He said and pointed at Bonnie to go.

Bonnie came over to Madeline and looked down at Tyler.

"I'm going to try as hard as I can Maddie."

Madeline nodded up at Bonnie with tears in her eyes.

"How pathetic." Rebekah muttered and Madeline glared at her.

Matt stood, taking Madeline's hand in hers and went to leave with Bonnie but Klaus stopped them.

"No, no, no… she stays with me. For safe keeping as well. If all else fails with Tyler we can continue with this one." He said and grabbed onto Madeline's arm.

Matt glared at Klaus and looked down at Madeline.

"Just go… go go." She said and he squeezed her hand before turning to leave with Bonnie.

"So this is the latest doppelganger…" Rebekah said, "The original one was much prettier."

"Enough Rebekah…" Klaus dragged, "Take the wolfboy elsewhere., would you?" he said and Madeline stepped out of his grasp.

"No." she said and Rebekah looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Out of my way little girl." She pushed Madeline back a few feet and Klaus sighed loudly.

Rebekah bent down and grabbed Tyler's arms, dragging him out of the gym. All Madeline could do was watch. She felt so helpless and it was all because of this… man... _more like monster._

Klaus let Elena's arm go and she rushed over to Madeline.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah… I'm fine." she lied.

Elena sighed and rubbed her arm softly. She bent down to make sure Dana and Chad were okay. Dana was crying softly and Chad was still holding onto his stomach. There was a big red blood stain and just looking at it made Madeline feel sick.

"Alright, now come with me love…" Klaus said grabbing Madeline's arm and looking back to Elena, "You stay."

The original forcefully dragged Madeline along with him to the bleachers.

"Must you man handle me like this all the time?" she bit out angrily.

Klaus smirked and pushed her down roughly on the steps of the bleachers.

"Now, I want you to tell me, how old are you?"

"18." Madeline answered, deciding it was best to just do that then have him compel her.

"And who are your parents?"

"My mom, Rebecca died. My dad lives in New York. I'm staying with my aunt for the year." She sniffed and wiped her nose with her sleeve.

"You're aware of the werewolf curse, correct?" he asked.

"Yes, and my mom told me it wasn't passed down to the women. At least… that's what she said. I don't think she ever got it then and just told me what she did." Madeline said feeling confused.

"You need to have killed someone in order to make it happen. I'm guessing your mum was very conscious about that. Like I said before though, if Bonnie fails with Tyler, we'll just start over with you, so sit tight." He said, patting her head.

Madeline felt a tear roll down her cheek and she brought her head down in between her hands. Klaus went ahead and sat next to her, frowning at Elena who was glaring daggers at him and consoling the young girl and boy.

"Can't you just let me go be with Tyler? Please?" Madeline asked after a few minutes.

"Nope, I need you where I can see you. I don't want any funny business." He said.

"This isn't funny, nothing funny is happening, I just want to be with my cousin, please." She pleaded.

"He's all I have here."

Klaus looked at her momentarily and shook his head, "Shut up." He said and she groaned.

The gym doors opened and in stepped a guy around her age with copper colored hair. He approached cautiously and Elena stood up, gasping. Suddenly Madeline was aware that the guy was most likely Stefan. It couldn't be anyone else, could it? Madeline looked at Elena and saw her with a pained look on her face.

"Klaus." The guy said loudly.

"Come to save your damsel, mate?" he said calmly.

The guy looked over at Madeline with small confusion before he looked back at Klaus.

"I came to ask for your forgiveness… and pledge my loyalty."

Madeline thought this guy was an idiot. Who in their right mind would do that?

"Well you broke that pledge once already…" Klaus said leaning forward on his elbows.

"Elena means nothing to me anymore." He said.

This was definitely Stefan, Madeline thought to herself.

She looked over at Elena and in that moment she felt truly sorry for whatever was happening.

Stefan continued, "Whatever you ask of me, I will do."

Klaus looked at him for a moment, "Fair enough." He said and stood in a rush.

"Let's drink on it!"

Madeline's eyes widened as Klaus made his way over to where the three students were standing.

"Kill them…" he said, pointing at Chad and Dana.

Stefan looked over at Klaus and took a step forward.

"What are you waiting for?! Kill them!"

"No Stefan, don't!" Elena said, "He's not going to hurt me he already-ahh!" Klaus had stepped forward and backhanded Elena causing her to fall on the ground.

Madeline gasped and stood up ready to go run over to her but Stefan growled and with his vampire speed ran over to Klaus; Madeline wasn't sure what he was going to do but Klaus stopped him and grabbed him by the throat.

"She means nothing to you, huh?" he said, "Your lies just keep piling up."

Madeline took that chance to run over to Elena and make sure she was okay. With her help, she grabbed onto her arm and helped her stand up carefully.

"Let her go, I'll do whatever you want! You have my word!" Stefan groaned as Klaus tightened his grip on his neck.

"Your word doesn't mean much." Klaus growled, "I lived by your word all summer, during which time I never had to resort to this…" he grabbed Stefan's head between his hands with great force and looked right into his eyes.

Elena's grip on Madeline tightened.

"Stop. Fighting it." He said.

"Don't do this…" Stefan repeated over and over.

"I didn't want to… all I wanted was your allegiance. Now I'm gonna have to take it." He said.

"You will do exactly as I say…" Klaus began again, "When I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just… obey."

Stefan shook his head trying to get out of Klaus's grasp but it was no use.

Klaus let him go and Madeline could feel Elena shaking.

"No…" she whispered.

At that moment Madeline realized Klaus must have compelled Stefan.

Klaus grinned darkly, "Now kill them. Ripper."

Stefan looked away from Klaus and over to the two students. His expression changed immediately from scared to terrifying. His features changed completely; his eyes turning a dark red color and veins protruding from the skin. His fangs came out and he looked menacing.

Elena and Madeline could only watch in horror as Stefan began draining the poor girl all the while Klaus had a smirk on his face.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

Hoooooomygeh, I told you shit was on and popping. I had this chapter written up already it just needed a little editing so I decided why not just give it to you guys :) Part 2 will come shortly!


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is fairly long o.o lol I hope you all don't mind the length!**

**Chapter 6 – The Reckoning: Part 2**

As Stefan drained the bodies of the two students, Madeline and Elena were holding each other; Madeline was doing it more for Elena's sake than her own at this point. She had just watched her boyfriend drain two bodies of blood. Klaus had gone to crouch behind them, and Madeline was very aware of his breath on her neck.

"It's always nice to see a vampire in his true element… the species has become such a broody lot."

Madeline shivered and Elena shook her head.

"No… you did this to him." She said just as Stefan turned to look at the three of them.

Madeline looked back at Klaus to see him smirking, "I invited him to the party love, he's the one dancing on the table."

Elena grabbed Madeline's arms and they helped each other stand up. They stared at Stefan, who had blood dripping all down his chin. The gym doors burst open and they all turned their heads to see Rebekah coming through.

"Where is it! Where's my necklace?" she shouted.

"What are you talking about?" Klaus said in an annoyed voice.

"She has my necklace. Look!" Rebekah said rushing over to Klaus and handing him what looked to be like Caroline's cell phone.

Klaus stared into the phone and back up at Elena, "Well, well. More lies…"

"Where is it?" Rebekah asked, eerily calm for how she had just burst in at first.

Madeline squeezed Elena's hand and she shook her head, "I don't have it anymore."

"You're lying!" Rebekah suddenly shouted and with her vampire speed came over to Elena, knocking Madeline to the floor and biting into Elena's neck.

"Knock it off!" Klaus shouted grabbing his sister.

Elena fell down next to Madeline and she immediately sat up to check if Elena was okay.

"Make her tell me where it is, Nik!" Rebekah said angrily.

Klaus sighed heavily and slowly turned to look at both girls on the ground before zeroing in on Elena and crouching down.

"Where's the necklace sweetheart? Be honest." He said.

"Just leave her alone! She said she doesn't have it!" Madeline cried.

Klaus looked at her rapidly and glared, "I thought I told you to shut up love, I'm this close to making you kill someone to start your curse."

Madeline glared right back at him before Elena spoke up, "I'm telling the truth. Katherine stole it."

"Katerina," Klaus sniffed, "Of course. Well… that's unfortunate! If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it shall we?" he said standing.

Klaus walked away from them and in a second was standing to where the scoreboard system was set up. The buzzer sounded throughout the gym loudly and Madeline flinched at the noise. Klaus turned to look at them all.

"20 minutes. If Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then, I want you to feed again," he said going over to Stefan, "Only this time, I want you to feed on Elena."

Both Elena and Madeline gasped, their grips on each other tightening.

While Madeline hardly really got to spend time with Elena, she still felt a lot for her. She was put in such a difficult position. She lost her entire family and was alone with only her brother. From what she just saw, her boyfriend was under Klaus's compulsion and she wasn't sure if there was any real hope left.

"Klaus, don't do this to him…" Elena managed to grit out.

The wound on her neck was pretty bad thanks to Rebekah and it wasn't going to heal on it's own so quickly.

"No one leaves. If the Lockwood girl tries to run, fracture her spine." Klaus spat out and walked over to Madeline, dragging her up by her arm and reaching into her back pocket.

"I'll take this just in case you decide to have any cute ideas." He said, taking her cell phone away.

Letting go of her arm, he walked out of the gym, Rebekah right behind him and Madeline looked at his descending form with wide eyes.

They turned back to Stefan who looked at them in shock; they were all pretty much in shock. Stefan was doing things against his own free will; he was supposed to feed on Elena and if Madeline even thought about trying to run out, she would have her head snapped just like Klaus did to Tyler. At that moment Madeline felt tears in her eyes just thinking about Tyler. She prayed Bonnie would find a way to save him.

Madeline just sat there staring at the ground and Elena who was next to her stood up. She had no idea what to do next. She couldn't even run, her cell phone was taken away, and as soon as the buzzer clocked down to zero, Stefan had to feed on Elena.

They were all quiet as Stefan began to pace around the gym floor, staring at everywhere but the two girls. He would stop pacing, look down at the dead students and continue to walk around. At one point he headed over to a water fountain to clean off the blood on his face. It was a few minutes before he turned back to look at them and Elena was about to say something when he cut her off, staring right at Madeline.

"You're a Lockwood?" he asked.

Madeline looked up through her tears, seeing his blurry form and she wiped at her eyes with her sleeve.

"Yes. I'm Tyler's cousin." She answered.

He groaned, "That's just great."

Stefan noticed how pretty she was. She had similar looks to Tyler; same hair color, they were both tan she was just a few shades lighter. They had the same eye shape but her eye color was hazel. He wasn't sure exactly what their relationship was but he really didn't want to kill another one of Tyler's family members. Damon had done enough of that.

Madeline looked up at Elena who frowned and bent to rub the girls back.

"That was your knight in shining armor?" she asked quietly.

Elena nodded with a sad look on her face. Madeline checked on her neck and saw some blood still dripping down. She stood up then and Stefan looked at her warily. She gave him a look before answering.

"I'm just going to get your girlfriend a towel for her neck. It won't stop bleeding."

"I'll go get it, I really don't feel like killing anyone else tonight." he said before turning and going through the locker room doors.

In an instant he was back with a small white towel and handed it to Madeline, not trusting himself to get too close to Elena.

"I'm so sorry this is happening." She whispered and Elena shook her head, applying the towel against her neck.

"It's not your fault. I'm beginning to think it's all mine actually."

"Oh please for the love of… just shut up Elena." Stefan said angrily.

Both girls looked up with wide, cautious eyes.

"Why are you acting this way?" Elena said.

"Because, Elena! I'm compelled, I can't just not do what Klaus forced into my head, alright?!" he shouted.

"Caroline's dad!" Elena said suddenly, "Stefan… he was able to resist compulsion. I don't know how he did it. Maybe it's possible…"

Stefan shook his head and laughed without humor, "Yeah, yeah. Maybe it's _just_ mind control, right? Maybe it just takes some focus, a couple of years of training. No big deal."

"Stefan, you can control this…" Elena sighed, "When that buzzer goes off… just… just drink from me."

At this, Madeline couldn't help but roll her eyes to. She face palmed herself and turned. She could tell Elena was selfless as hell, but this was just too much. She expected way too much from him, and Madeline, who hadn't known about the supernatural world for too long could even tell there was no way to stop this.

"You don't get it. I can't stop, Elena!" Stefan growled, "I'm a ripper! A ripper doesn't stop! I listen to the words coming out of _your_ mouth, and all I hear is your heart, pumping blood through your body."

Madeline turned to see Elena shaking slightly and Stefan continued.

"When that clock ticks down… I'm going to have to feed on you. And you know what's worse? I'm not going to be able to stop." He said with a pained look on his face.

"I don't believe that, you can fight it! You just have to want it bad enough." Elena said.

Madeline sighed, "Elena… I don't think it really works that way."

Stefan shook his head, "Why? Because I love you?"

"Yes! That's right Stefan, because you love me." Elena said with a hopeful tone in her voice, "You'll fight because after everything that we've been through, you owe me that." She said through gritted teeth.

Madeline decided to try and tune them out. She didn't want to intrude on whatever moment they were having, or that Elena thought they were having. She wasn't going to get through to him, Madeline knew that much. It was not going to be easy. She walked over to a table and sat on top of it, sighing deeply. This definitely wasn't how she planned the night before starting her senior year. This was most definitely not what she planned when coming to Mystic Falls.

Looking up at the game clock on the farther wall, she saw they had less than five minutes. There was no hope. Bonnie wasn't back, Klaus hadn't stepped foot into the gym since he left. Stefan was going to suck Elena dry and if she tried to run away, he'd go after Madeline next.

"Tyler's going to die." Madeline whispered to herself and held onto the moon pendant on her chain.

That's all she thought about at that moment. She was going to die, her cousin was going to die, and Elena was going to die and all for what? Some stupid hybrids. Fucking Klaus.

The clock was ticking down, they had less than thirty seconds and Stefan seemed conflicted about something, running his hands through his hair as if he were about to rip it out. He looked up suddenly at both girls.

"You're going to have to run… both of you…" he said.

Madeline hopped off the table and went to stand next to Elena before speaking up.

"But Klaus said if we tried to run-"

"I know what he said. But if you two stay it won't matter." He said falling down on his knees.

The gym clock ticked down fifteen seconds and Madeline grabbed onto Elena's hand.

"Hey, let's go. Now!" she said, pulling the girls arm but Elena didn't budge.

"Elena, please, please, please!" Stefan said desperately, "There's no other way."

"There is another way Stefan, it's for you to fight it." Elena said.

"Stop it Elena, look we have five seconds, let's go now!" Madeline said ready to run through those doors at any moment.

Her eyes widened as soon as the gym buzzer rang through the room loudly and Stefan tried holding onto the floor as if it would help.

"Elena!" Madeline shouted, starting to get annoyed.

"Stefan, I love you." Elena whispered.

_They were both going to get killed if they didn't get out of there!_

"For fuck's sake Elena, look at him! We have to leave!" Madeline said, trying to coax the girl to go with her now' she really didn't want to just run and leave her there alone.

"_No_ Madeline! Stefan _please_, fight it, I know you can fight it!" she said.

Stefan just looked at Elena with a pained expression and he doubled over on the floor, as if he was choking. In a flash he was up and pushed Elena and Madeline towards the gym doors and threw himself against a wall.

"Elena, run! Go!" he shouted.

Madeline wasn't having it anymore, she grabbed Elena's arm and the girls both turned to run out.

"Next time, fucking listen to the blood thirsty ripper psycho vampire who's about to rip your throat out, no matter who he is, alright?" Madeline huffed as they continued to run through the halls.

"Madeline you don't understand." Elena said as they pushed through another hallway door.

They could hear loud bangs from behind them, and they were more than sure that was Stefan. Madeline had to give him just slightly a little more credit than she had before; he was actually trying for their sake... or well, Elena's sake. They continued to run through the halls and just as they burst through another set of doors, they bumped into someone and they gasped. It was Klaus.

"We have got to stop meeting this way." He said with a sarcastic smile.

"You…" he said grabbing onto Madeline's arm, "Get in that classroom and don't come out until I'm back." He said, shoving her at a door.

Having no choice but to obey, she gave one last look at Elena and entered the classroom.

The brightly lit room made Madeline squint but she gasped as soon as she saw who was in the class.

Immediately she ran up to him.

"Oh my god, Tyler!" she said running over and wrapping her arms around her cousin, giving him a bone crushing hug.

He was alive! _And about to be dead again…_

"Don't you ever do that shit to me again you dick!" she said and shoved him back.

"Hey, hey… I'm sorry… I'm sorry I worried you. I'm not going anywhere. Come here." He said grabbing her shoulder and pulling her into another hug.

Madeline felt her tears slowly flowing down her cheeks. She was so glad he was alive. She really hoped Bonnie had fixed whatever was wrong with the hybrid transformation.

"I'm so glad you're okay! Bonnie helped you, right?" she asked.

Caroline cleared her throat before Rebekah laughed a little and Madeline looked over at her with a glare.

"You see… he's still in transformation. But we haven't heard from Bonnie yet. So we don't know what's going to happen." Caroline said.

Madeline turned and kicked a stool, making it crash into the stool beside it causing them both to fall on the ground.

"What do we do now?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"We wait." Tyler said quietly.

* * *

The minutes passed by agonizingly slow.

Tyler was in pain and both Caroline and Madeline took turns to watch over him. Rebekah stayed in her corner trying to block the three out, not really caring what would happen. She was too enthralled with the cell phone device in her hand.

Klaus burst through the door after a while and they all looked up.

"Well, the verdict's in. The original witch says the doppelganger should be dead."

Madeline and Caroline continued to rub Tyler's back; he was sweating profusely and shaking uncontrollably every few minutes. It was breaking his cousin's heart to see him this way when there was nothing she could do about it.

"Does that mean we can kill her?" Rebekah asked enthusiastically, hopping off the table she had been sitting at and standing next to Klaus.

"No I'm fairly certain it means the opposite." He said standing in front of the three before Caroline went to make a move but Rebekah restrained her.

Klaus leaned in close to Tyler and held up a clear testing tube with a red liquid in it.

"Elena's blood. Drink it." he said.

Madeline wiped Tyler's forehead with a napkin and Caroline shouted against it.

"If he doesn't feed, he'll die anyway, love." Klaus said moving the tube in front of Tyler, "Consider this an experiment."

Madeline glared at Klaus, "If he dies…"

"You'll what?" he said, matching her glare.

Tyler continued to shake slightly as he took the tube and slowly started to bring it up to his lips. He tipped it back and almost immediately, he dropped it and started to groan in pain. His face had a million different emotions on it and Madeline stood frozen in shock, not sure what to do. He fell to the floor and continued to shake as if he was having some sort of seizure. Madeline cried out and was about to go help her cousin but Klaus held her back, holding her against his chest.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, just sit back and enjoy the show." He whispered in her ear.

Tyler groaned and yelled out and they all watched as he suddenly was on his knees and holding himself up on the floor. He let out one last groan before growling. He looked up intensely, his eyes a very golden brown color and he bared fangs, Elena's blood dripping down his chin.

"Well that's a good sign." Klaus said, impressed, and let go of Madeline.

* * *

Klaus had left with Rebekah once he was sure Tyler wasn't going to die. He was more than sure his transition had gone through impeccably, as it should in the first place. The only kink to the plan was the spell the original witch had done was a doozy. Definitely.

Madeline had to make sure over and over that Tyler was okay. They had been in the classroom for over ten minutes so she could be completely sure he was fine to go home and that he didn't need any immediate medical attention. After countless times of telling her he was really fine, she finally gave in. Caroline wasn't too sure that was the deal though, she felt something was off.

At Mystic Falls Regional, Klaus had just dumped Elena's body off to retrieve more blood. It was the key to his success. He decided what he needed was a five minute break to kill time and wait for the blood transfusions from the doppelgänger. He was walking slowly towards the truck when Rebecca decided to speak up.

"So... the doppelgänger isn't the problem; her blood is the solution." she thought aloud.

"Seems so..." he said, looking up at her.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"Well, you know how much the original witch hated me. Do you honestly think I would do anything other than the oposite of what she says."

Rebekah laughed then and shook her head, "A thousand years in the grave and she's still screwing with you."

_Of course she was... would there be anything else she'd be doing?_

"Well, it makes sense if you think about it in her perspective. It was her failsafe in case I ever broke the hybrid curse. The doppelgänger had to die in order for me to become the hybrid, but if she was dead..."

"Then you couldn't use her blood to sire yourself a new species." Rebekah finished.

_Clever little thing she was._

Klaus shrugged, "Leaving me alone for all time..." he said with a dramatic wave of his hand.

Rebekah shifted and looked at him, "Is that what this is about? Your obsession with hybrids. You just don't want to be alone?"

Klaus suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable and unsure of how to answer that but he didn't let it show.

"What I want... is to take my girl, take my hybrids, and get the hell out of this one pony town." he said seriously.

Klaus made to turn but Rebekah stopped him again, "What's your plan with the Lockwood girl then? Tyler's cousin was it?"

Turning on his heel, Klaus smirked just slightly, "I have plans for that feisty little thing."

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

Uh-oh... o.o I wonder what Klaus has in store for Mads... it's not going to be great between them at first, I can promise you that :I Reviews are my encouragement to keep going :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Smells Like Teen Spirit**

Madeline stared at the clock on her bedside to see it glow 6:01 A.M.; she was fairly sure she'd been staring at it since about four in the morning. It took her a while to fall asleep only for her to wake up after a nightmare and she saw she had only slept for about three hours. Then she just lay there and watched the time go by.

In her nightmare, she had been at the school, running away from Klaus who was after her to make her turn into a werewolf. The setting of the nightmare had warped and suddenly she was here at home, hiding in her room. Klaus had found her and made her kill the boy that had been in the school last night, the one Stefan drained along with the girl. She was successful in killing him and she woke up just when she had turned, the sickening sounds of bone crunching jolting her awake.

With a heavy sigh, she brought her arms out and stretched very cat-like. She sat up slowly and figured it was time she got ready for the day. If it were up to her, after last night's events, school wouldn't even be an option right now. She would rather sleep the rest of the day. But she couldn't do that, and it would raise suspicion from her aunt. Madeline didn't want aunt Carol thinking she was feeling homesick or depressed. She got up out of bed and could hear the shower running down the hall; Tyler was most likely up and getting ready.

After last night, she was sure her cousin would be freaking out after what Klaus had done to him. He had turned him into a freaking werewolf-vampire hybrid! But he hadn't… in fact; he had taken it very lightly. He seemed in high spirits after last night, constantly reassuring both Madeline and Caroline that he was more than okay. His cousin just felt very uneasy about the whole thing.

Going into her closet she stared at the contents within for a few minutes before deciding what she would wear; some white bermudas with a blue top seemed alright. After about half an hour she was dressed and finishing up her hair. She figured leaving it down in soft curls would be simple and cute enough for the first day; it was how she normally wore it anyways. She began to put on some light make-up when she heard a knock at her door. She looked back just in time and it opened to reveal Tyler.

"Hey baybay." Madeline said turning back to the mirror.

"You look good, see… I told you, you had nothing to worry about." Tyler said hopping on her unmade bed.

Madeline rolled her eyes, "Of course I do. Why wouldn't I? Who was worried? Not this girl…" She began to work on her hair again to add a few extra curls.

Tyler chuckled, "Man, it's great to be a senior. One more year of this bullshit and we're done."

"Have you given any thought as to what you're doing after?" Madeline asked curiously as she put her make-up in a small black pouch.

"Nope. Just taking it day by day I guess. You?" he asked.

"I don't know. Go back to New York? Find a job. Maybe got to school. I have no idea what the hell I want to do. I'm on your boat dude, taking it day by day I guess. That's all we can do here. Tomorrow Klaus might decide to slaughter us all." She said, setting her curling iron down and unplugging it from the wall.

"I don't think he'd do that unless you give him a reason to." Tyler said, crossing his arms.

Madeline turned around and raised an eyebrow at him.

"_I think_, you're thinking too highly of him."

Tyler stood then, "He saved my life, Madeline."

"Hello! He snapped your neck and left you for dead at first, I saw it with my own eyes!" Madeline said, throwing her arms up.

"Whatever. Let's just go downstairs." He said and turned to leave.

Madeline sighed and went to grab her bag. Taking one look around the room to see if she forgot anything, and she remembered the only thing missing was her cell phone. Which Klaus had. _That bastard_. She turned back around and closed the door behind her, walking down the stairs. She heard clattering noises coming from the kitchen and she walked in to see Tyler eating one of those disgusting energy bars. Carol was sipping something that was steaming from her cup.

"Morning darling, I'm in a rush to get out so I won't be able to spend much time with you two while you go off… I hope you have a good first day. You look beautiful." Carol said walking up to her niece and giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Thanks aunt Carol." Madeline said with a smile.

Carol walked out of the kitchen quickly and Madeline turned to Tyler.

"Vamonos you little shit. I'm antsy and I want to pick up my schedule early."

Tyler smiled slightly and slapped her behind hard as soon as she turned and he ran in front of her.

"Tyler!" she yelled, rubbing her rear.

Tyler laughed loudly as he ran out the house. She made her way out, closing the door behind her. She went after her cousin and promptly proceeded to beat the crap out of him before they got into the car and headed off to school.

As soon as they arrive, there were buses lining up and leaving students, a long line of cars in the drop off curb, and the student parking lot was about halfway full. Madeline felt anxious about her classes and who she would be making friends with and what teachers she would have. The two cousins got out and started making their way through the parking lot. Tyler spotted Matt's truck and they ran over to it to scare him. He had been alone and looked a little spooked.

"Donovan! What are you doing here?" Tyler said going over to his window.

"Hey Matt." Madeline said, standing behind her cousin.

Matt looked up at both of them and gave them a faint smile.

Tyler put his arm around his cousin and they turned to start walking as soon as Matt got out of his truck. Tyler paused and looked over his shoulder. "You talking to yourself?"

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Matt asked, dodging the question.

"We're seniors, man. Life is good." Tyler said with a shrug.

"We'll be hearing a lot of that today." Madeline said with an eye roll.

They began walking, Tyler's arm still around Madeline's shoulders. She could feel Matt's arm brushing against her and she smiled as they got into the halls. They made their way to the gym, which had students bustling in and out and standing around reading over their schedules. It was as if the previous night hadn't even happened and two student's hadn't been drained of their blood and killed right there in the center of the gym floor where the giant Timberwolves logo was painted on.

Madeline stepped up to a table with a sign that read 'Seniors Q-V'. She let the teacher looking through sheets know her last name and first and she handed her a map along with her new schedule for the 2012-2013 year. She looked through it and noticed her list of classes didn't seem so bad. She had History first with Mr. Saltzman so that was going to be interesting. She looked around the gym for Tyler and Matt but didn't find them anywhere. Just as she turned on her heel to exit the gym, she ran into someone.

"Oh! Sorry!" she said with wide eyes and looked up.

Stefan looked down at her with a smirk, "Nice to see you Madeline. You're looking pretty gorgeous." He said and stepped around her to the table to pick up his class sheet. "Salvatore, Stefan."

Madeline watched as he was handed his sheet and he looked through it with a small smile. He turned back around and took a few steps forward to her, taking her sheet from her hand and compared the periods.

"Looks like we have History and English together."

"Oh that's lovely." She said, throwing some of her hair back off her shoulder.

"You smell lovely." He said with a wink and turned.

Madeline looked at him as he started to walk through the gym doors and she followed. Just as she turned the corner, Matt stopped her. "Hey!" he said.

"You guys left me." Madeline said with a frown.

"Sorry I kinda lost you through the crowd. I came back though…" he said with a weak smile and Madeline laughed.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let's get to class then, do you have History with Mr. Saltzman first too?" she asked hopefully.

"Nah, but I can take you if you want?" he offered.

"Sure." She said with a smile.

They walked together and after comparing class sheets they were pretty bummed they had no classes together, although they had the same teachers. They thankfully had the same lunch though so that was pretty cool. Matt dropped Madeline off at Alaric's room and before he turned to leave, he kissed her cheek. She bit her lip and entered the class, spotting Tyler towards a seat in the back; she also saw Caroline and Elena and offered them a smile. She went ahead and figured there weren't any seating charts so she sat to her cousin's right.

"Saw that." He said, twirling a pen between his fingers.

"Whatever." She muttered taking her bag off.

Everyone started to come in then just as the first bell rang.

"How are we all even together?" Madeline asked aloud, leaning over slightly.

Caroline turned in her seat, "I pulled a few strings." She said with a wink.

Smiling, Madeline put her phone on silent and looked up to see Stefan going down her aisle. She raised an eyebrow as he made the kid in front of her move and she looked over at Elena who looked a bit worried. Caroline just looked annoyed and Tyler had almost no emotion on his face except for looking bored.

"Welcome back, seniors. Let's turn our brains back on, starting with this country's original founders—Native Americans." Alaric began.

Most of the students looked up to pay attention but that was quickly stopped when another voice popped in.

"What about the Vikings?"

Madeline looked up to see Rebekah, Klaus's sister, enter the classroom and take a seat up front.

Alaric looked confused but continued, "Uh… there's no evidence that Viking explorers actually settled in the United States… who are you?" he asked.

"My name's Rebekah. I'm new and… History's my favorite subject." She said.

_Oh great._

* * *

The rest of the day continued on as normal as it could. During lunch, which was right after English with Stefan, Madeline had found her way to her friends. They chatted about their classes, who was with who now, and Caroline had also told Maddie that she signed her up to try out for the spirit squad; aka cheerleaders. She wasn't thrilled about it but she told her she'd do it anyway. Might as well put her gymnastics skills from her youth to good use.

After school, Elena had let Madeline borrow some of her gym shorts and she had taken one of Tyler's shirts. She changed in no time and was out on the field to meet up with Caroline. The boys were all practicing for a game coming up soon so the field was pretty busy and packed with students.

"Alright, just follow in on the stretches we're going to do first, and then we'll get to the good stuff later." Caroline said as soon as Madeline appeared next to her.

"It should be fairly easy then." She said with a smile.

Tyler was doing laps back and forth when he spotted his cousin and Caroline with the rest of the girls in the spirit squad. He huffed just as he did one more set and waved over at them. Madeline waved back and then flipped him off which caused him to laugh.

"So, Tyler had a blood stain on his shirt this morning." Caroline whispered to Maddie.

The girls got down on the grass and stretched their legs out as far as they could go and they leaned forward.

"You're kidding me? Already?" Madeline said.

"Yeah. It was Rebekah's doing. That… bitch better watch out." Caroline said with a frown.

Madeline laughed a little and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. It was so hot out. She decided to ditch the long-sleeve she was wearing and slipped it off, throwing it aside, leaving her in a black training bra. She looked back at Caroline.

"I'll make sure he behaves. I'll keep an eye on him any chance I get, don't worry Care." She said and they stood to stretch out their arms.

"As anyone seen Dana?" the lead girl asked and Madeline frowned.

"Sounds like you have an opening on the squad…"

Madeline looked to the side where Rebekah stood next to her, in between her and Caroline. Caroline immediately looked to the side and she turned. "What are you doing here?"

Rebekah ignored her and she began to mimic what the other girls were doing. Caroline huffed and took a few steps forward. Just as the other girls started to bend down, Rebekah stood straight up and Madeline watched them worriedly.

"Hey. You can't just come here and infiltrate all our lives." Caroline said.

Rebekah smirked, "I'm only interested in yours. Your spark, your popularity…" she began and looked off to where the boys on the football team continued to do laps, "Maybe even your boyfriend." She said with a smile.

With that, she turned and winked at Madeline who just raised an eyebrow at her and looked up at Caroline.

"_What the fuck?" _Madeline mouthed.

Caroline frowned and went to stand on Madeline's other side, away from Rebekah.

The girls continued to do their stretches and were learning some basic moves and counts. The whistles were being blown every five minutes over to where the players were practicing and Caroline was looking around at Elena who had Stefan on her tail. Apparently he was now supposed to "keep an eye out and protect Elena" by Klaus' demand. He was being a real douche about it. If this was Stefan now, she kind of wished she could have met him before.

"Oh my God I'm going to kill him." Caroline said, her eyes wide.

"What happened?" Madeline asked.

"Tyler just compelled the coach. He can't just… do that. Just like that. In front of everyone like he just did, he's new at this." She said, crossing her arms and she began to move forward in his direction.

Madeline shook her head and turned to the squad leader who had each of them do cart wheels.

While she practiced, a few girls took turns to show their skills. Rebekah stared at Madeline the whole time. It was making her feel uncomfortable so she finally looked up and snapped.

"What do you want?"

Rebekah smirked, "Oh nothing. Just seeing what you're made of is all. Trying to figure out why on Earth my brother is intrigued with you."

"Besides the fact that I can most likely be one of his next hybrids?" Madeline said with a grimace and stretched her leg out.

"Yes. Besides that actually." Rebekah said with narrowed eyes.

It was Madeline's turn to practice a few tumbles and cartwheels. She had done a few perfect ones and a few other girls failed epically through theirs. When it came to Rebekah's turn, she could tell that little miss original vampire was showing off big time.

Once practice was over, the girls headed back into the gym and to the locker rooms. Madeline grabbed all of her things quickly, ready to get home and take a proper shower. She headed out to the parking lot only to see her cousin's car was nowhere in sight. She sighed and sat down on a bench. She had no cell phone, which meant no way to call Tyler.

"Oh my goodness…" she said aloud and rubbed her forehead.

"Need a ride?"

Madeline turned her head sideways to see Stefan standing there with an amused grin.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Well… I had to make sure Elena left school safely." He said with a shrug.

"Right. Good for you then." She said, turning her head back and staring forward.

"So do you need a ride or not, because I don't see anyone around that you might know and I don't think a girl as pretty as yourself should be out here all alone…" he said stepping forward.

"Can I borrow your cell phone?" she asked.

Stefan rolled his eyes, "Just follow me. I'll take you to Tyler's, stop being paranoid."

Madeline huffed and followed him against her will; she just had no other way to get home. It was this or walking, which she did not want to do because her legs were aching. The ride to the Lockwood mansion was fairly quick, and not as bad as she thought it would be. She wanted to stay annoyed at Stefan, but she realized he had such great taste in music and they had begun talking about bands of the 80's and U2 because Stefan had put in one of their cassettes.

_Who even owned cassettes anymore though, vampire or not?_

Before getting out of the car, she turned to look at Stefan.

"By the way, whenever you talk to your psycho bff Klaus, make sure to let him know I'd like my cell phone back. Thanks for the ride."

With that she got out and headed straight inside to get ready for the bonfire Caroline had demanded she go to. She also may or may not have given Tyler an earful about abandoning her in places.

**END OF CHAPTER**

Ahhhhhhh why is everyone always abandoning poor Mads?! Tyler! She's gonna kick your ass, dude! -.- But any who, I've gotten quite a lot of views and a decent amount of follows on the story… just not many reviews :/ I really would love some feedback as I journey through the story! I hope I'm not boring you all that much :(


	8. Chapter 8

**Because I felt you all should have a little extra something, here's some Madeline/Matt fluff!**

**Chapter 8 – Ghost World**

Reaching up to knock on the door, Madeline let her fist connect about three times before pulling back. She waited patiently with her hands in her jacket pocket until the door opened. A slightly confused Matt stood in the doorway. Madeline smiled softly.

"Hey… I was passing by and I saw your truck. Figured you were in here." She said.

Matt raised an eyebrow, "I'm nowhere near town and not on your way home?" he said unsure.

Madeline shrugged, "So, I just wanted to say hi then. You gonna let me in?"

Matt took a step back letting her pass through and he closed the door behind him. Maddie shrugged her jacket off before setting it down on the arm rest of the couch and turned to look at Matt who still looked very confused. With a sigh, she crossed her arms.

"Bonnie told me everything that happened last night. The ghost thing." She admitted.

Matt's eyes widened before he looked down guiltily.

"I'm sorry she told you. I didn't think she would…" he said.

"I made her tell me. I was kind of peeved you ditched me at the bonfire last night and after hearing me complain about it for some time she finally told me everything that happened. I'm just also really upset you didn't come to me. Why didn't you? I don't care what it is; I can handle it. You know I'm here for you Matt…" she said.

Matt sighed heavily and went to sit on the couch.

"I know… I know. It's just… it was Vicki, you know? I miss her. She always had me wrapped around her little finger. I just… I have no one. I wanted my sister back." He said.

Madeline sat down next to him and touched his face softly. She looked into his blue eyes; they seemed so sincere and sad. She bit her lip and shook her head softly. She wasn't sure why he thought what he did.

"You have me, alright? I'm here. Remember that." She said.

Letting her heart take over, she leaned in and kissed his lips gently. She was sure he didn't mind the second his hand went up to her cheek. She was faintly aware of how he tasted like Doritos and Mountain Dew.

After a few seconds, she pulled back and saw Matt's eyes were still closed.

"Was that okay?" she asked.

Matt opened his eyes and held the back of her head gently in his hand.

"It was way better than when we were five."

They laughed and she took that moment to lean in again and give him a quick peck.

"Let's get ready for Illumination Night or we won't hear the end of it from Caroline. I'm also supposed to show up, as a Lockwood by blood, you know…" she said with a shrug and Matt smiled.

"Thanks for coming."

"No problem." She said with a wink.

* * *

As the afternoon dragged on, the town was in a cheerful mood as they set up for the nights festivities. The Founders really enjoyed coming up with any excuse to throw a party. Paper lanterns were being put up all around the town square and the surrounding neighborhood and shops.

Madeline thought it was pretty stupid, but cute nonetheless.

As she stood on her tippy-toes to fix one of the lanterns that she had set up on a low branch, she felt a body behind her.

"Looks like you could use some help with that."

Smiling, she turned her head to see Matt looking down at her with a smirk.

"Yes actually, I do."

With a grin, he reached up over her and fixed the wire she had been trying to thred through the lantern and he laughed a little when she shoved him after he gave her a cocky grin.

"That wasn't so hard."

"Easy for you to say hot shot." She muttered playfully.

They crossed the street to Matt's truck where several other lanterns sat.

"Alright, where are we going to hang these next? This street looks pretty filled up." Madeline said just as a car screeched to a halt near them.

They turned to see it was Damon, exchanging words with both Caroline and Bonnie. She wasn't sure what he was saying but the girls had worried looks on their faces. Matt grimaced and kept looking over at Damon. As soon as the car left, the girls looked over at the pair and Matt sighed, crossing the street.

Madeline decided to keep herself occupied for a moment as she fixed the lanterns in the bed of the truck, spacing out a few of them. She turned her head to see her friends still talking and she decided to go see what was up. When she showed up, they almost didn't tell her what was going on but Caroline said it was only fair for her to know. Apparently, her uncle Mason's ghost was back and with a vengeance against Damon.

"Serves that demon right though." She huffed with her arms crossed.

"Have you seen Vicki since last night?" Caroline asked looking over at Matt with a worried glance.

"I haven't seen her, I swear. I sent her back like you told me to." He said, turning to look at Bonnie.

"Are you sure? Because she has just as much reason to haunt Damon as Mason Lockwood does."

At the mention of her uncle's name again, Madeline felt her heart tug a bit. She had missed him like crazy. She would give anything just to see him again. She rubbed her chest uncomfortably. Bonnie continued to explain how something terribly wrong must have occurred and she was worried about Vicki having any kind of physical foothold on their side.

"I've had enough of this ghost stuff to last forever. So you guys can leave me out of this one." Matt said suddenly and took a few steps back to turn and leave.

Both Bonnie and Caroline looked at each other worriedly before looking back at Madeline who was shifting from foot to foot.

"Go with him." Caroline said with a short nod.

Madeline smiled at her enough to make it seem like she was okay and nodded, turning to run after Matt. He had gone back to his truck and Madeline caught his hand. "Hey." She said.

"I'm really sorry you know. This has to be bad news."

Matt shrugged, "I'll get over it. But… I know you must be feeling something, right? They said Mason's ghost was back."

Madeline looked down to the ground before reaching into his back pocket and taking his truck keys.

"Get in, we're going somewhere." She said, sitting in the driver's seat.

Matt complied and got into the passenger side. Both were fairly quiet as Madeline drover around town. There were still many people wandering around, lots of children helping with the lanterns, and Matt suddenly realized where she was taking him. When they reached the four-way stop, Matt looked over at Madeline.

They were going to the Mystic Falls cemetery.

Madeline parked the truck on the sidewalk just near the entrance gates and she got out quickly. Matt followed behind her and they made the long walk through all the graves to where most of the past Lockwood family members were buried. It was also where her mother was buried, right in between her uncle Mason and uncle Richard.

"That's my uncle Mason… my mom… and uncle Richard." She said.

Matt held her hand and a tear slipped out from the corner of her eye. They sat down in front of Mason's grave and Matt wrapped his arms around her. They said nothing as they sat together for a while, lost in their own thoughts. There was a nice wind that would whip around them every once in a while and it felt great. Her eyes were closed when she felt something inside of her. She felt something like butterflies and her eyes snapped open. She looked up and saw that Matt had his eyes closed.

"Hey… how about we go?" she said and Matt opened his eyes looking down at her.

"Um, yeah sure. Let's go." He said.

They stood and she held onto his hand tightly as they started to walk away. She wasn't sure what it was, but something in her made her stop. Matt turned to see what was wrong when she whipped her head over and they both looked back.

They saw a figure standing right above Mason's grave mark and Madeline gasped. It couldn't really be him…

"I already had my extra time. I'll give you yours." Matt said quietly from behind her.

With one last look at the tall blonde boy, she gave his hand a squeeze and turned to slowly make her way over to the figure.

"Uncle Mason?" she said quietly as she approached.

The man turned and his eyes widened in shock. He hadn't seen his niece in so long. She was beautiful, just like Rebecca. They both stared at each other before Madeline broke off into a run and slammed right into his body. She wrapped her arms around him just as he did with her in a bone-crushing embrace. Madeline had tears in her eyes and before she could stop herself, a sob escaped her lips and Mason tightened his grip around her.

"Uncle Mase, I'm so glad you're back!" she said through her tears.

"I am too." He whispered.

Letting her go gently after a few minutes he set her down and looked into her beautiful hazel eyes. Those were her dads. He wiped her tears away with his thumbs and ruffled her hair; she let out a small laugh and she sighed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Just… visiting my bro and little sis. What about you?" he asked.

"I was coming to visit you actually." She said.

He smiled and sat down on the grass, patting the spot next to him and she sat down without a word.

"You know, I have some unfinished business around here. That's why I'm back really. I know for a fact though, your mom is at peace." He said.

Looking up, she felt another round of tears coming on, "You really think so?" she asked.

"I know so. I can feel it. I don't know how, I just can. She would be so proud of you. You're so beautiful, and smart. Remember the last day at the hospital? She told me that when she was gone, she wanted me to take care of you. And I took as much care of you as I could, even with all the werewolf bullshit that would get in my way. I did my best. I want you to know you shouldn't feel sad anymore. She wouldn't want that, don't you think?" he said.

Madeline plucked a blade of grass and thought about what he said. She felt like a little girl again all of a sudden. While he was only a few years older than her, and he was her uncle, she always saw him as her best friend as well. She nodded slightly to him.

"That's true." She whispered.

"Exactly. I've been watching over you as best as I can while you've been here. You're doing a good job at keeping your head up, kid. I'm also proud of you." He said and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"I miss you so much." She said with her eyes closed.

Mason sighed, "I know. I miss you too. You and Tyler. We had so much fun back then. But… as cheesy as it sounds, I'm always right here," he said, bringing his hand to her chest over her heart, "And here." He said, kissing her forehead.

With a smile, she looked up and wrapped her arms around him once again.

"I gotta get going; I have some stuff I have to do." He said into her hair before leaning back.

"Understandable." Madeline said and looked up as Mason stood.

He held his hands out for her, and she took them, standing up with a jump.

"I want you to look after Tyler alright? Who knows what kind of mess he's going to be getting himself into. And take care of yourself." He said.

Madeline smiled when he rubbed her arm softly and she sighed.

"I'm glad I got to see you one last time. I feel a lot better." She said.

Mason laughed, "I love you, Mads."

"I love you too. Remind me to kick Damon's ass later because he's the reason you're gone." She muttered and Mason rolled his eyes.

"I'll be dealing with him in a while. Take care of yourself, alright Maddie?" he said.

Madeline nodded, "You too."

As soon as she said that, he disappeared. She blinked a few times before realizing that was definitely the last time she would ever see him. She was glad his last goodbye with her was now and it was special. She hadn't had a proper goodbye before, she was glad she got this chance. Looking back, she saw Matt sitting on a stone bench. She walked along the grassy path and took the spot next to him.

"I understand completely now why you did what you did with Vicki. I would have done the same for Mason or my mom in a heartbeat. As selfish as it sounds." She said.

"What I did was pretty selfish. But I realized now I'm not alone, you know? I thought about what you said this morning. I'm glad we have each other. I'm really happy you're here. And you're not alone either." He said.

Looking down, he took her hand in his and smiled softly. She leaned her head on his shoulder. Things could get better… hopefully.

But knowing how Mystic Falls always seemed to attract trouble, whether it was vampires, werewolves… ghosts… she was sure the worst was yet to come.

* * *

**END OF CHAPTER**

Kinda short, I know, but hopefully this was good! Felt the need to add in some development between Matt and Mads, also it was nice getting to see Mason again for one last time! :)


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